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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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DimsioH.JLJ.'^..   ''Of 

T4  ^ 

Section. ...^....^ ''•■" — ' 


TRANSLATED  FOR  THE  BIBLICAL  REPERTORY. 


HINTS 


IMPORTANCE     OF     THE     STUDY 


BY    AUGUSTUS    THOZ.UCH, 

PROFESSOR    IJV     THE     UJ^IVERSITY    OF    HALLE. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN 

BY  R.  B.  PATTON, 

PROFESSOR    OF  LAM6UAOES,    ^TASSAU   HALL. 


PRINCETON   PRESS, 
PRINTED    BY    D.  A.  BORRENSTEIN. 

1827. 


PREFACE  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR. 

Upon  Germany,  the  eye  of  the  serious  theologian  rests 
with  a  deep  and  painful  interest.  Grateful  for  the  talents, 
learning  and  piety  which  she  threw  into  the  field  to  combat 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  to  liberate  the  moral  and 
intellectual  faculties  of  man  from  superstition,  ignorance  and 
degradation ;  grateful  for  the  long  list  of  worthies  whose  ex- 
amples and  instructions  have  illustrated  the  doctrines  of  the 
cross ;  grateful  also  for  the  indefatigable  research  which  has 
ransacked  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  ancient  and  mo- 
dern world,  to  elucidate  the  language,  idioms  and  allusions 
of  the  "  Book  of  Books ;"  which  has  rescued  from  worms  and 
dust,  examined,  appreciated  and  collated  the  sacred  manu- 
scripts which,  for  centuries,  had  been  doomed  to  the  silence 
and  oblivion  of  the  cloister; — grateful  for  these  and  other 
important  services  in  the  cause  of  theological  learning  and 
of  piety,  he  cannot  but  deplore,  at  the  same  time,  the  pre- 
sumptuous ardour  of  thought,  the  misapplied  learning,  the 
injudicious  zeal,  the  looseness  of  sentiment,  and  the  conse- 
quent low  state  of  piety  and  morals  which,  since  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  have  marred  the  fairest  portions  of  in- 
tellectual Germany. 

We  look  backward,  with  a  good  degree  of  curiosity, 
through  the  last  two  centuries,  in  order  to  find  an  adequate 
cause  for  this  great  moral  change  ;*  and  we  look  forward, 
with  intense  solicitude,  to  the  probable  effects  of  this  de- 

*  This  subject  has  been  lately  so  ably  handled  by  the  Rev.  Hugh 
James  Rose,  in  a  Series  of  Discourses  preached  before  the  University 
of  Cambridge  (reprinted  in  the  Repertory  Vol.  II.  p.  387.  and  fol- 
lowing), and  in  the  Review  of  these  discourses  in  The  Quarterly 
Theological  Review  for  March,  1826,  that  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  referring  our  readers  to  those  publications  for  a  full  exposition 
of  the  probable  causes  which  have  operated  to  produce  this  change. 

3  B 


fection,  upon  the  piety  and  christian  morahty  of  those  na- 
tions who  are  brought  into  Uterary  contact  with  the  Ger- 
mans. IVe  cast  also  a  benevolent  look  around  us,  anxious 
to  discover  some  symptoms  of  returning  health — a  whole- 
some reaction,  a  consciousness  of  corroding  disease  gnawing 
at  the  vitals,  a  strengthening  of  the  things  that  remain,  an 
inflexible  purpose  of  amendment,  a  returning  to  the  doctrines 
of  "  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour,"  which  the  pious  Re- 
formers— their  professed  exemplars — so  sedulously  taught. 
We  have  reason  to  believe  that  there  exist,  at  present, 
circumstances  which  throw  some  rays  of  light  across  this 
dark  picture,  and  relieve,  in  some  measure,  the  gloomy  fore- 
bodings we  are  disposed  to  indulge. 

1.  The  supremacy  of  philosophy  in  matters  of  Religion, 
so  long,  and  with  such  pernicious  consequences,  insisted  upon 
in  the  lecture-room,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  elaborate  commen- 
tary, and  even  in  the  books  of  private  devotion,  is  beginning 
to  be  disputed  ;  or  rather,  to  speak  more  properly,  a  sounder 
philosophy  is  taking  the  place  of  that  rash  spirit  of  specula- 
tion which  had  assumed  its  name. 

The  imaginative,  discursive  and  metaphysical  genius  of 
the  German,  freed  from  those  restraining  and  controlling 
influences  which  a  humble  piety  exerts,  and  forgetting  the 
impassable  hmits  of  the  human  powers,  has  presumed  to 
sit  in  judgment  upon  the  revelation  from  heaven,  invented 
a  standard  by  which  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  its  doc- 
trines, subjected  its  plainest  declarations  to  the  test  of  rea- 
son, rejected  or  explained  away  what  it  could  not  fathom^ 
called  in  question  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
scattered  the  seeds  of  infidelity  far  and  wide,  even  while 
clothed  in  the  garb  of  a  divine  teacher  and  an  ambassador 
of  Christ.  The  theological  professor  has  not  hesitated  un- 
blushingly  to  declare,  when  pressed  with  a  genuine  and  well 
authenticated  miracle ;  J\li/  jjhllosophi/  forbids  me  to  re- 
cognise the  existence  of  a  miracle. 


V. 

Not  less  than  four  or  five  master-spirits  have,  within  com- 
paratively few  years,  commanded,  for  the  time  being,  almost 
universally,  the  admiration  of  the  German  literati.  Leib- 
nitz, Wolf,  Kant,  Fichte,  Schelling,  like  waves  of  the  sea 
have  chased  each  other  forward,  each  one  successively 
overwhelming  its  predecessor,  until  merged,  in  its  turn,  in 
comparative  obhvion,  by  its  triumphant  successor.  In  the 
midst  of  their  ever  varying  and  discordant  systems,  some  of 
their  writers  began  to  congratulate  the  nation  as  the  only 
one  in  possession  of  a  theology  which  livedo  and  breathed, 
and  grew,  while  that  of  other  nations  was  in  a  wretched 
state  of  torpor,  fraught  with  error,  degraded  by  irrational 
views  of  God,  obscured  by  mysticism,  destitute  oiimprove- 
■ment,  invention,  and  rationality. 

We  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  there  have  not  existed 
some  honourable  exceptions  to  these  remarks — some  illus- 
trious scholars  whose  minds  were  sound,  and  whose  senti- 
ments and  pious  conduct  were  such  as  comported  with  the 
word  of  God,  which  they  professed  to  receive.  But  we 
think  v/e  are  warranted  by  personal  observation  and  reading, 
in  savi'ig,  that  this  state  of  things,  with  its  consequences, 
became  so  general  as  to  form  the  prevailing  features  in  the 
character  of  the  most  literary  and  best  informed  portion  of 
Germany. 

If  we  may  judge,  however,  from  the  modifications  which 
the  metaphysical  philosophy  is  apparently  undergoing,  from 
the  relaxing  of  its  more  rigid  features,  and  from  the  disre- 
spect with  which  these  philosophical  speculations  are  begin- 
ning to  be  spoken  of  by  certain  influential  writers,  the  sway 
of  this  falsely  named  philosophy  is  becoming  daily  less  ex- 
icnsive  and  imperious.* 

*  "  Sortie  of  the  metaphysical  writers  have  lately  also  enlistpd  them- 
selves on  the  side  of  Christianity.  Roppen,  in  hia  P kilosnpkie  des 
Ckritfcnthums,  has  attempted  to  show  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of 
^>rio-inal  sin   on  nhilosonhical  jjrounds.      A  celebrated  phvsician  of 


VI. 

2.  Some  of  the  more  serious  and  judicious  of  their  theo- 
logians  have,  for  some  years  past,  candidly  acknowledged 
and  publicly  deplored  the  state  of  theological  opinion,  and 
the  almost  imperceptible  practical  influence  of  Christianity*" 
wherever  these  loose  opinions  have  gained  currency ;  and^ 
in  some  instances,  a  change  of  sentiment  and  a  degree  of 
recantation  has  taken  place.  The  later  productions  of  De 
Wette,  Kaiser,  and  Ammon,  for  example,  and  some  expres- 
sions which  dropped  from  Staeudlin  for  some  years  before 
his  decease,  the  evangelical  views  and  pious  labours  of  Tho- 
luck,  and  the  increasing  seriousness  and  spirituality  among 
some  of  the  theological  students,  encourage  us  to  hope  that 
the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  is  begun. 

3.  Tl:>e  decided  position  which  the  present  king  of  Prus- 
sia has  taken,  in  favour  of  the  promulgation  of  pure  Gospel 
truth,  his  evangelical  sentiments — not  received  by  inherit- 
ance from  his  ancestors,  but  the  result  of  an  ingenuous  ex- 
amination of  the  word  of  God,  because  he  had  "applied 
himself  assiduously  to  the  Bible,  and  sought  therein  the  doc- 
trines taught  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles"! — the  influence 
which  his  opinions  and  deportment  are  calculated  to  exert, 
owing  to  the  high  and  noble  sphere  in  which  he  moves,  not 
only  upon  the  community  at  large,  and  upon  his  court,  but 

Leipsic,  Dr.  Heinroth,  lias  annoyed  the  Rationalists  dreadfully,  by 
a  treatise  on  Anthropology,  in  which  his  views  of  the  intellectual  and 
'  moral  part  of  man  are  entirely  at  variance  with  them,  and  in  unison 
with  the  orthodox  notions.  The  masterly  nature  of  the  work,  aiwl 
the  high  reputation  of  the  author,  were  equally  subject  of  annoyance 
with  the  Rationalists."  Rose's  Discourses.  Report.  Vol.  ii.  p.  10. 
note. 

*  "Bretschneidor  has  published  a  pamphlet  on  this  subject,  called  : 
Ueber  die  UnkirkUchkcit  dicser  Zeit,  in  which  he  says,  that 
so  many  have  been  published,  that  he  doubts  if  any  thing  new  can  be 
said."     Rose's  Discourses.     Repert.  Vol.  iii,  p.  4.  note. 

f  Letter  to  the  Dutchess  of  Anhalt  Coethen,  on  her  renouncing 
the  Protestant  religion  for  the  Catholic. 


VII. 


especially  upon  his  universities,*  seem  to  forebode  a  liappy 
change,  at  no  very  distant  period,  in  the  moral  aspect  of 
Prussia.  And  when  we  consider  the  high  standing  of  her 
theological  professors,  the  reputation  of  her  numerous  and 
scattered  universities,  and  their  close  connexion  in  lang-uage, 
manners,  and  literature,  with  the  other  German  states,  the 
anticipation  is  by  no  means  a  presumptuous  one,  that  the 
whole  of  theological  and  literary  Germany  will  come  more 
or  less  under  the  benign  influence  of  evangelical  truth. 

4.  Semler,  who  is  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Ration- 
alizing school,  commenced  his  neological  career  under  cir- 
cumstances highly  favourable  to  the  dissemination  of  his 
doctrines.  His  daring  intellect,  his  comprehensive  range  of 
thought,  his  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge,  his  extensive  litera- 
ry acquirements,  commanded  the  admiration  and  confidence 
of  his  contemporaries.  The  plausibility  and  novelty  of  his 
views — which  last  quality  is  so  bewitching  to  the  German 
mind — prepared  the  way  for  their  general  reception.  Seve- 
ral causes  had  been  operating  for  some  years  before  his  ap- 
pearance, through  whose  instrumentality  the  theologians  and 
the  philosophers  of  Germany  were  predisposed  to  the  cor- 
dial adoption  and  the  industrious  application  of  his  principles. 
We  allude  to  the  want,  which  the  Protestant  churches  expe- 
rienced, of  control  over  the  wildest  and  most  licentious  spirit 
of  innovation,  the  loss  of  respect  for  their  symbolical  books, 
the  misguided  zeal  of  the  Pietists  who  maintained  that  Chris- 
tianity consisted  solely  in  virtue,  and  the  consequent  reaction 
which  produced  a  philosophical  and  even  a  mathematical 
school  of  theology ;  and,  fiually,  the  disposition  to  employ 
this  very  philosophy  to  explain  away  and  soften  down  the 
more  obnoxious  doctrines,  and  to  elevate  the  unassisted  ef- 
forts of  human  reason  to  a  supremacy  in  matters  of  religion 
which  it  poorly  merits. 

*  He  lately  elevated  Tholuck  to  a  high  and  coninrjanding  situa- 
tion in  the  Univeraily  of  Halle,  which  is  any  thing  but  orthodox. 


VIII. 

But  the  brilliant  talents  of  Semler  no  longer  dazzle  the 
eyes  of  his  admiring  countrymen.  The  etTervescence  is 
past.  The  novelty  has  ceased.  The  experiment  has  been 
made.  An  eventful  but  instructive  portion  of  the  history  of 
theology  in  Germany,  from  the  Reformation  to  the  present 
time,  furnishes  a  detail  of  facts  upon  which  the  speculative 
mind  of  the  German  may  seize  and  theorize  with  hardly  a 
possibility  of  error.  It  is  ardently  to  be  desired,  that  the 
German  Church  may  profit  by  the  lesson  which  the  last  two 
centuries  have  taught  so  clearly  that  "  he  that  runneth  may 
read,  and  the  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  need  not  err 
therein." 

5.  The  writings  of  Storr^  Tittmann,  Knapp,  Tholuck,  and 
others,  are  not  consigned  to  neglect  and  oblivion.  If  we  are 
not  mistaken  in  the  signs  of  the  times,  they,  as  well  as  their 
authors,  are  commanding  an  increased  respect;  whilst  the 
latter,  by  their  lives,  have  evinced,  or  are  still  evincing,  that 
a  sincere  piety  and  the  profoundest  learning,  a  simple-hearted 
faith,  and  the  keenest  spirit  of  research,  may  form  a  lovely 
and  harmonious  union,  ennoble  the  heart  of  the  christian,  and 
shed  a  benignant  light  on  all  within  the  sphere  of  his  influ- 
ence. 

6.  This  httle  tract  also,  by  Tholuck,  which  we  have  trans- 
lated for  the  Repertory,  and  which  seems  to  have  been  de- 
signed by  the  author  to  awaken  the  attention  of  the  students 
of  theology  more  particularly,  to  the  importance  of  the  study 
of  the  Old  Testament,  is  an  additional  item  in  the  amount  of 
encouragement.  Although  somewhat  loosely  put  together, 
diffuse  in  style,  and  bordeiing  on  the  enthusiastic  in  senti- 
ment, the  spirit  which  it  breathes,  the  entire  subjection  of 
reason  to  Revelation  which  it  inculcates,  the  importance 
which  it  attaches  to  a  living  faith,  the  prominency  which  it 
gives  to  those  views  and  doctrines  which  we  are  wont  to  re- 
gard as  all-important  to  salvation,  will,  we  doubt  not,  gratify 
our  readers  as  a  pledge  of  good  things  to  come. 


iX. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  also  the  nationaFpropensity  of  the 
Germans,  under  the  influence  of  which  the  intellectual  cha- 
racter of  the  student  is  formed.  We  allude  to  a  strong  thirst 
for  abstract,  refined,  and  sometimes  vague  speculations,  of 
which,  if  we  mistake  not,  there  are  some  traces  in  the  piece 
before  us.  Let  us  remember  also  the  influence  which  our 
early  philosophical  education  is  wont  to  exert  upon  our  riper 
years,  even  where  the  spirit  of  meek  and  humble  piety  pre- 
dominates, and  we  shall  not  be  startled  at  some  few  extrava- 
gancies of  expression,  or  mystical  and  enthusiastical  senti- 
ments, discoverable  here  and  there  in  the  writings  of  this 
promising  young  theologian. 

May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  revive  in  this  land — 
the  cradle  of  the  Reformation — the  spirit  of  the  Reformers, 
so  that  the  mantle  of  Luther  may  fall  upon  his  professed  fol- 
lowers and  admirers, — that  all  who  pretend  to  teach  may  be 
taught  of  God, — men  of  faith,  learning,  research,  and  above 
all,  of  ardent  and  unfeigned  piety. 


HINTS 


ON    THE    IMPORTANCE  OF 


S^fit  Sttttifi  oi  tilt  mtf  m^tmnmt 


For  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  the  sentiment  has 
prevailed  almost  universally,  both  among  theologians  and 
private  christians,  t/ial  the  study  of  the  Old  Testament, 
for  theologians,  as  ivell  as  the  devotional  reading  of  the 
same,  for  the  laity,  is  either  entirely  profitless,  or,  at 
least,  promises  hut  little  advantage.  Adapting  our  re- 
marks more  especially  to  the  theologian,  we  shall  attempt, 
in  this  Essay,  clearly  to  show, 

I.  The  importance  of  the  study  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, EVEN  ON  the  supposition  THAT  IT  IS  NOWISE 
CONNECTED    WITH  THE    NeW  ; 

II.  The  profound  wisdom  displayed  in  the  provi- 
dential   LEADINGS,    AND     IN    THE    RELIGIOUS    INSTITUTIONS 

OF  THE  Hebrews  ;  and, 

III.  The  entire  dependance  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment UPON  THE  Old  ; — and  that  Christ  is  the  sum 
and  substance  of  the  Old  Testament. 

As  this  subject  has  enlisted  the  attention  of  thinking  men 
in  all  ages,  it  may  naturally  be  expected,  that  many  valuable 
thoughts  have  already  been  broached  by  others.  It  is  not 
our  design,  therefore,  in  this  Essay,  to  furnish  much  that  is 
new,  but  merely  to  lay  before  the  theologia.is  of  our  day  the 
substance  of  what  has  been  already  advanced. 

3  c 


12  IMPORTANCE    OV    THE    STUDl' 

I.  Now  fa?',  then,  do  the  hooks  of  fhe  Old  Testament 
deserve  our  serious  study,  evni  luhnitting  the  absence  of 
all  connexion  with  Chris- ianiti/  ? 

If  steadfastness  and  indipcndeiice  be  celebrated  as  dis- 
tirg:Mshed  excellencies,  in  the  character  of  an  individual; 
much  more  are  they  worthy  of  our  admiration,  when  exhi- 
bited in  the  character  of  a  whole  nation.  Josej^hus  {Contr. 
Jip  ii.  31.)  remarks:  "Were  it  not  a  fact,  that  the  Jewish; 
nation  is  universally  known,  and  their  voluntary  subjection 
to  their  laws,  a  matter  of  pubhc  notoriety,  the  Greeks — if 
our  institutions  were  described  to  them,  or  if  it  were  told 
them  that,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  then  known  world,  such 
a  people  had  been  discovered,  entertaining  such  exalted  con- 
ceptions of  the  Deity,  and  abiding  true  to  their  laws  for  so 
many  centuries, — the  Greeks,  I  say,  would  be  in  utter  amaze- 
ment ;  for  they  know  of  nothing  but  continual  change.'''' 

But  this  constant  variation  and  change,  some  one  will 
object,  JO/ oaV/ce  life ;  and  it  is  this  very  life  which  elevates 
the  Greeks  so  high  on  the  scale  of  intellect,  whilst  the  whole 
East  has  been  torpid  from  time  immemorial.  But  the  grand 
object  of  human  existence,  is  certainly  not  a  mere  activity 
of  mind  devoid  of  aim  (which  the  Persian  Dschelaleddin 
compares  with  the  unceasing  How  of  a  stream) :  for,  when 
the  truth  is  once  discovered,  it  is  quite  superfluous  to  search 
for  it  anew  ;  and  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  delineates,  in 
the  most  striking  manner,  the  character  of  all  the  heathen, 
of  a  cient  and  of  modern  times,  when  he  describes  them  as 
"  ever  learning  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth." 

The  Hebrews  nos'^essed  a  religious  service,  which,  as  we 
shall  see,  satisfied  the  demands  of  an  humble  mind,  not  yet 
elevated  to  the  higher  degrees  of  spirituality.  To  this  ser- 
vice they  continued  faithful.  In  conformity  with  it,  they 
fashioned  their  whole  life ;  and  Josephus  {Contr. Ji}].  ii.  20.) 


6P    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT. 


-can  say  with  justice :  "  It  affords  no  ground  for  obiection 
against  us,  that  ice  have  discovered  noihing  new.  It  rather 
proves  that  we  needed  nothing  better.''^  "  What  can  we 
conceive  more  lovely,"  continues  this  spirited  writer,  "than 
a  state  whose  whole  administration  resembles  a  common  re- 
ligious festival  ?  Whilst  other  nations  have  preserved, 
scarcely  for  the  space  of  a  few  days.,  thtir  festivals  and 
their  mysteries,  we  celebrate,  ivith  inflexible  purpose 
('a|u-sra*£(JTOj),  our  religious  ordinances,  from,  century  to 
century.'''' 

Now,  if  such  a  perseverance  arid  persistency  be  not  the 
result  of  a  deficiency  of  internal  vigour  and  energy,  it  must 
be  regarded  as  something  tinily  noble ;  as  in  the  case  of 
Sparta,  the  conqueror  of  nations,  whose  praise  is  sounded 
far  and  wide,  because  she  was  enabled  to  adhere,  for  many 
centuries,  to  the  brazen  laws  of  Lycurgus. 

But  who  would  venture  to  attribute  to  the  Israelites  a  de- 
ficiency of  internal  vigour,  who,  without  union  in  the  times 
of  the  Judges  ;  in  a  flourishing  condition  during  the  brilliant 
periods  of  a  David  and  a  Solomon  ;  torn  with  internal  com- 
motions, and  harassed  by  wars  from  without,  during  the  reigns 
of  tiie  kings;  subjugated  by  their  enemies  in  the  Babylonian 
captivity  ;  and  under  the  Maccabees,  with  heroic  energy,  as- 
serting again  their  pristine  importance ; — experienced  all 
the  vicissitudes  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  nations.  True,  their 
want  of  energy  and  their  extreme  languor  were  but  too  ap- 
parent at  the  time  of  our  Saviour.  But  a  new  order  of 
things  was  then  introduced.  Fearful  were  the  last  agonies, 
when  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem  entombed  the  antiquated  and 
now  unmeaning  Sanctuary ;  as,  long  before,  at  Niacveh,  the 
smouldering  ruins  of  the  royal  palace  had  buried  the  efTcmi- 
nate  Sardinapalus,  and,  with  him,  the  sunken  glory  of  ASS3- 
ria.  It  must,  therefore,  be  highly  instructive,  to  investigate 
the  source   of  this   brazen  perseverance   (iV;i(ufo^vwao(ri;yr;,) 


14  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

which  was  noticed  and  admired  in  this  people,  at  an  early 
period,  hy  the  Grecian  Hecataens,*  a  native  of  Abdera. 

If  the  inquiry  be  made,  by  what  means  the  Sj)artan  state 
was  raised  to  its  iofty  elevation  ;  and  if  this  inquiry  must  be 
answered  by  pointing  to  ambition  and  untameable  pride,  as 
the  nurse  of  the  Spartan  constitution  ;  and  toLycurgus,  en- 
deavouring to  cherish  and  to  strengthen  the  native  rudeness! 
of  the  Doric  tribe,  and  establishing  the  greatness  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Sparta,  upon  the  brutal  dejzradation  of  the  legitimate 
inhabitants — the  Lacedemonians ;+  then  the  Hebrew  nation 
also  will  appear  in  a  still  more  interesting  light,  the  more  of 
truth  we  discover  in  those  words  of  Josephus  :§  "  To  account 
for  our  steadfast  faith  in  God  and  his  commandments,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  recur  to  the  fact,  that  our  system  of  laws  was  far 
more  useful  than  that  of  any  other  nation.  For  Moses  re- 
garded all  the  virtues  as  suburdinnte  parts  of  piety  to 
Gody  and  not  piety  as  a  mere  subdivision  of  virtue.  In 
his  legislation,  he  recognises  all  our  actions  as  having  dva.- 
(popav  -Kfog  020V  a  relation  to  God.''''  And  no  impartial  his- 
torian will  deny,  that  precisely  in  this  uniform  recognition 
of  the  relation  of  all  events  to  God,  is  to  be  found  the  source 
of  the  great  power  of  the  Israelites  ;   inasmuch  as  those  pe- 

*  Josephus,  Contr.  Ap.  i.  22.  The  arguments  against  the  au- 
thenticity of  Hecataeus,  in  Eichhorn's  Bibfv'thek,  Vol.  v.  p.  431  ,  are 
outweighed  by  those  of  Zorn,  in  his  Eclogae  Abderitae,  Altona,  1730, 
p.  192.  Who  pan  tell,  how  much  evil  and  false,  this  Hecataeus  re- 
lated concerning  the  Jews,  together  with  the  good?  Read  what 
Zorn  has  said  of  Hecataeus  the  Milesian,  in  reference  to  this  very 
thing,  in  the  work  above  cited,  p.  47. 

f  Plutarch  justly  reprehends  their  stern  and  savage  rigour,  when 
Lycurgus,  for  example,  extirpates  all  the  vines,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  use  of  wine.  See  Plut.  De  audiend.  poet.  ed.  Wittenb.  Vol.  i. 
p.  5'2. 

I  Manso's  Sparta,  I.  i.  p.  129. 

i  Contr.  Ap.  ii.  10. 


OP    THE    OLD   TESTAMENT,  15 

riods  when  piety  is  languid  or  extinct,  are  the  most  deficient 
in  firm  and  manly  characters ;  for  these  are  produced  only 
by  resting  firmly  and  reposing  confidently  upon  God. 

Next  to  the  steadfastness  and  independence  of  the  He- 
brews, their  far-famed  antiquity  claims  our  respect.  More 
than  six  hundred  years  before  Lycurgus,  Moses  gave  his 
laws.  Six  hundred  years  before  Pindar,  the  king  of  the 
Hebrews  composed  his  divine  psalms.  Three  hundred  years 
before  the  fabulous  heroes,  Orpheus,  Hercules,  and  Theseus, 
sailed  to  Colchis,  Moses  founded  a  Ttieocracy  frau;^ht  with 
the  marks  of  divine  wisdom.  If  we  refuse  to  acknowledge 
the  antiquity  of  the  Pentateuch,  still  the  historical  facts  are 
certain.  But  the  antiquity  of  the  Pentateuch  is  called  in 
question,  not  by  the  student  of  history,  but  solely  by  theolo- 
gians, who  are  offended  at  its  extraordisiary  colouring.* 

It  fares  with  the  remotest  antiquity  as  with  our  inflmcy. 
Tota  ilia  aetas  periit  dil:vio  sicut  infantiani  mergere 
solet  oblivio,  says  St.  Augustine  ;  '•■  ^11  those  years  were 
drowned  in  the  deluge,  as  our  infancy  is  wont  to  be 
merged  in  oblivion.''''  Of  those  ages  we  know,  therefore, 
but  little.  What  has  been  preserved,  however,  from  those 
remote  times,  by  tradition,  is  presented  by  Moses  in  the  first 
ten  chapters  of  Genesis,  in  a  more  inteUigible  form,  than  is 
found  in  all  the  maze  of  Grecian,  Indian,  Egyptian,  and 
Chinese  fable.t     Admitting  that  what  Moses  relates  of  the 

*  For  the  authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch,  the  late  Jahn  has  argued 
profoundly,  in  Bengel's  Archiv,  ii.  Si,  iii.  Tuebingen,  1817  and  1818. 

f  "  It  is  easy  to  see  why  I  could  meddle  only  orally  with  the  won- 
derfully learned,  and,  often  enough,  learnedly  wonderful,  things 
which  make  a  talk  among  us,  out  of  Egypt,  India,  the  world  of  fable, 
&.C.  merely  because  we  prefer  an  obscure  perception  of  wisdom  at  a 
distance,  to  a  near  and  practical  apprehension  of  it  where  it  really 
exists.  Thus  much,  however,  is  certain,  that  things  are  not  rendered 
Gospel,  by  even  the  most  extensive  and  intricate  reading."  Schoels- 
ser's  Wdtseschichtc,  Vol.  i,  Pt.  2.  in  the  preface. 


16  IMPORTANCE    OP    THE    STUDY 

antc-patriarchal  times,  belongs  to  an  age  of  darkness,  when 
tradition  exerted  its  transforming  influence  ;  still,  no  one  can 
deny  the  important  truths  contained  in  the  chapter  concern- 
ing the  Creation  and  the  Fall ;  nor  can  any  one  mistake  the 
truly  historical  colouring  which  shows  itself  in  the  history  of 
the  patriarchs.  To  begin  with  the  history  of  Abraham ;  who 
would  venture  to  assert  that,  after  a  thousand  or  sixteen  hun- 
dred years,  when  every  thing  was  now  changed,  some  one 
toak  it  into  his  head  to  invent  the  expedition  of  the  five 
kings  against  Sodom,  in  the  description  of  which  every 
thing  betrays  the  pen  of  a  contemporary  1*  Slime  pits,  and 
the  dry  crust  of  earth  impregnated  with  slime,  impede  the 
flight  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom.t  Fugitives  direct  their 
flight  across  the  mountains  of  Judea,  into  the  plain  where 
Abraham  had  pitched  his  tent,  and  uiform  him  of  what  had 
transpired.  Three  hundred  and  eighteen  "trained  servants, 
born  in  his  own  house,"  accompany  Abraham.  With  him 
also  were  three  confederates.  On  their  return,  they  are  hos- 
pitably received  by  the  priest  and  king  of  Salem.  Presents 
are  given  and  received.  What  an  air  of  genuine  antiqueness 
pervades  the  whole  !    How  truly  historical !    Would  not  all 

*  Let  us  listen  to  John  v.  Mueller :  "  On  no  book,  have  I  reflect- 
ed so  much ;  no  one  has  afforded  me  so  much  pleasure,  as  Moses. 
Nature  is  depicted  in  Moses  with  as  much  truth  and  fidehty,  as  in 
Homer;  in  a  greater  variety  of  forms,  also,  and  m  a  more  familiar  dress. 
No  condition  of  life,  no  age,  no  sex,  but  may  find  examples  and  vvarn- 
ino- in  these  books.  Tliat  Ezra  wrote  the  books  of  Moses,  is  about 
as  true  as  that  you  wrote  them.  There  is  quite  another  spirit  in  the 
ancient  lawgiver.  He  wrote  every  thing  for  his  times,  for  his  peo- 
ple, and  for  his  plan.  I  have  in  my  mind  a  multitude  of  thoughts, 
witli  which  I  cannot  to-day  make  you  acquainted;  this,  however,  is 
certain,  that  I  might  write  a  book  for  Moses  and  the  Prophets  against 
the  Rabbis  and  the  theologians.  For,  these  folks  had  eyes  and  saw 
not ; — especially  were  thrir  sensibilities  frozen,  admitting  they  ever 
had  any."     Letter  to  his  brother.    Werke,  Vol.  v.  p.  78. 

•j-  Gen.  xiv.  10. 


OP    THE     OLD     TESTAMENT.  17 

this,  in  the  annals  of  every  other  people,  be  received  as  his- 
tory? 

If  the  authenticity  of  Ossian  is  disputed,*  hecdiuse  ships  are 
there  spoken  of,  at  a  time  when  the  Caledonians  had  no- 
thing but  curucae,  constructed  of  intertwisted  oziers,  cover- 
ed with  ox-hides  ;t  because  chimneys  are  there  mentioned 
as  in  use  among  a  people  that  scarcely  had  huts ;  because 
the  hunted  roe  is  spoken  of,  when  Martial  says, 

Nuda  Caledonio  sic  pectora  prsebuit  urso; — 

why  shall  we  not  regard  that "  rust  of  antiquity,"  that  child- 
like simplicity  of  manners,  so  conspicuous  in  these  Hebrew 
books,  as  a  witness  for  their  authenticity,  and  the  genuineness 
of  the  history  of  the  patriarchs.  Abraham  employs  a  piece 
of  cunning,  not  to  tell  a  falsehood,  but  to  conceal  the  truth  ;| 
for  Sarah  was  also  his  §ister.§  Rebecca  deceived  the  aged 
Isaac.  Jacob,  by  a  crafty  contrivance,  enlarges  his  flock, 
much  to  the  prejudice  of  Laban.  Instances  such  as  these 
have  been  cited  by  the  Tindals  and  the  Celsuses  of  every  age, 
against  the  authority  of  the  Bible.  But  they  are  continually 
pressed  with  this  question  in  return  :  Does  not  all  this  hear 
testimony  to  the  veracity  of  narrators?  Consider  only 
how  much    an  interpolator  might  have   interwoven, |j  and 

*  Mfthridates,  Vol.  ii.  f  Ccesar,  Bell.  Gall. 

I  1   Mos.  xii.  13.  }  ch.  xx.   12. 

II  The  most  splendid  testimony  to  the  genuineness  of  the  Hebrew 
accounts,  is  furnished  by  that  passage  of  Hecatajus  the  Milesian, 
cited  by  Diodorus  Sicnlns.  from  whom  it  has  been  preserved  to  us 
by  Photius  in  his  Mu^io/3)/3Xi'ov,  Cod.  ccxliv.  [We  subjoin  to  this 
note  the  following  words  from  Townley's  Illustrations,  Sfc.  Vol.  i.  p. 
292.  "  The  JMyriohiblion  or  Library  is  a  Review  of  the  works  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty  authors,  theologians,  commentators,  philosophers, 
historians,  orators,  physicians,  aad  grammarians.  It  was  undertaken 
at  the  request  of  his  brother  Tarasias,  and  composed  whilst  he  was 
a  layman,  and,  as  it  seems  during  an  embassy  at  the  court  ofBagdat. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  precious  remains  of  antiquity ;  and  is  the  model 


18  IMPORTANCE  OP    THE    STUDTT 

what  palliating  circumstances  he  might  have  introduced. 
Schloetzer*  remarks  of  the  Jews,  that  '•'' they  stand  promi- 
nent  amon^  the  nations  of  the  worlds  not  merely  in  connex- 
ion with  the  christian  history,  as  the  people  of  God,  but  as 
a  powerful  nation,  who,  in  the  season  of  their  greatness, 
numbered  more  than  five  millions  of  souls ;  a  cultivated 
nation,  the  depository  of  all  the  fenowledge  which  re- 
tnains  to  us  from,  the  remotest  antiquity,  long  before 
the  oldfst  records  of  the  comparatively  recent  Greeks.'''' 
Josephus  {Contr.  ^p.  i.  2.)  eloquently  observes:  "It  is  a 
matter  of  astonishment  to  me,  that,  in  all  that  pertains  to 
antiquity,  mankind  imagine  they  must  confide  in  the  Greeks 
alone,  but  not  in  us,  and  in  others.  For  my  part,  I  believe 
that  precisely  the  contrary  coursq  must  be  pursued,  if  we 
are  disposed,  not  to  follow  vain  imaginations,  but  to  search 
for  the  truth  from  the  original  sources  themselves ;  for, 
among  the  Greeks,  every  thing  is  rf  recent  date — a  day 
or  two  old — the  founding  of  states,  for  example,  the 
invention  of  arts,  the  enactment  of  laws,  and, — the 
most  recent  of  all — their  historical  writings  " 

Let  us  now  consider  the  spirit  which  breathes  in  this 
very  ancient  history.  Every  where  we  shall  find  the  most 
lively  apprehensions  of  the  presence  and  character  of  the 
Deity. 

Diodorus  Siculus  styles  the  historian  "  the  minister  of 
Providence.''''  '■'■Letme  not,  0,  thou  divine  Providence,^' 
says  Lessing,t    "  because  thy  footsteps  are  invisible,  en- 

on  which  the  critical  journals  have  been  formed,  which  in  modern 
times,  have  so  much  engaged  the  learned  ot  different  nations  and 
contributed  to  the  advancement  of  literature.  An  interesting  account 
of  this  most  learned  and  accomplished  scholar,  is  given  in  Berring- 
ton's  Literary  History  of  the  JtUddle  Ages,  App.  i  pp.  554 — 562.  His 
Myriobiblion,  or  Library,  has  been  several  times  printed  ;  the  best 
edition  is  that  of  And.  Schottus,  Rolhom.  fol.  1653."  [Tr.] 

*  Wellgeschichte,  1792.  p.  198. 

t  Ueber  die  Erziehung  dcs  J\Iensckengescklechts,  p.  84. 


OF    THE    OLD  TESTAMENT.  19 

lertain  a  doubt  of  thy  existence.'^  Divine  vengeance 
reigns,with  uncontrollable  might,  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
Plato  exclaims:  'O  @s%  rta.\Ta  ysu^^T^si — The  Deity  metes 
out  all  things.  In  the  history  of  the  Hebrews,  how- 
ever, this  all-pervading  Deity  appears,  not  as  a  dark  and  un- 
intelligible Jidrasiea  ;  but,  as  Lavater  expresses  it,  as  an 
absolute  God^ — a  free  and  almighty  Sovereign,  who  re- 
veals himself  to  his  chosen  ones,  and  who,  with  wisdom 
and  irresistible  power  creates  and  destroys.  It  is  remarked 
by  Philo :  "  The  Greeks  lost  sight  of  the  Creator  in  the 
creature."  Just  so,  also,  the  historians  who  are  aSsoi  sv  tu 
xofffAu — without  God  in  the  world,  forgat,  and  still  continue 
to  forget,  that  the  God  who  metes  out  all  things,  is  above 
and  in  the  world.  They  affect  to  know  the  breath,  which 
communicates  life  and  motion  to  the  otherwise  dry  and  life- 
less collection  of  bones,  sinews,  and  flesh.*  If  we  are 
struck  with  the  conduct  of  Herodotus,!  who  never  forgets 
the  hand  of  the  Eternal,  which  regulates  the  movements  of 
time,  how  much  more  important  must  it  be,  to  discover  the 
only  God,  the  '■'■  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth''"' — thus  he 
was  styled  by  the  royal  priest  Melchizedec,:{: — energizing  in 
the  history  of  the  Hebrews  ?  The  goddess  of  Vengeance  is 
seen  flying  through  the  histories  of  the  Greeks ;  but  the 
Jewish  and  the  Christian  religion  were  the  first  to  exhibit 
the  counselling,  provident,  and  affectionate  God,  in  the  affairs 
of  the  world.  And  what  is  all  history  worth,  without  a  re- 
gard to  the  original  source,  from  which  the  noisy  streams  of 
time  proceed?     '■'•God  is   a  sphere,'^   says   the   profound 

*  The  remark  of  Herder,  in  his  By-iefe  uher  das  Stud.  d.  Theol.  iii. 
p.  323.,  that  "  Ecclesiastical  history,  without  the  Spirit  of  God,  is 
like  a  Polyphemus,  without  his  eye,"  is  strikingly  applicable  to  the 
!iistory  of  the  Israelites, 

f  See  Herodotus,  ed.  Wesscling,  p.  14,  and  Valkenaer';?  note, 
p.  216. 

t  1  Mos.  xiv.  10. 

3    D 


20  IMPORTAXCE    OF    THE     STUDY 

Proclus,  -whose  cenh^e  is  every  where^  whose  circumfer- 
ence is  nowhere.''''     Where  is  this  more  true  than  in  history. 

Thanks,  therefore,  to  the  Hebrews  for  having  immediately, 
and  through  Christianity,  instructed  us  in  the  genuine  spirit 
of  history.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  nations  of  the 
East,  in  general,  endeavour,  with  a  sacred  zeal,  to  dissolve 
the  world  in  God,  and  thus  to  destroy  the  liberty  of  the 
creature  ;*  while  those  of  the  West  also  strive,  with  a  blind 
precipitancy,  to  evaporate  God  into  the  world.  "But, 
sunt  certi  deniqxie  fines ^''  there  is  a  middle-way,  which  he 
will  find  who  is  taught  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

As  faith  in  the  universal  and  wise  government  of  the 
Highest,  reigns  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites,  so  also  confi- 
dence in  his  paternal  care  of  each  individual,  pervades  their 
didactic  poetry,  and  inspires  love  and  consolation.  Into 
these  mysteries,  the  eye  of  the  pious  heathen  cast  many  a 
wistful  look  ;  especially  the  enlightened  eye  of  the  noble 
Plutarch,  who  relates  of  Arion,  that  he  desired  to  be  rescued 
from  a  watery  grave,  for  this  reason  particularly,  that  he 
might  for  the  future  confide  more  firmly  in  the  gods.t  And, 
indeed,  in  this  as  well  as  in  other  respects,  we  are  constrain- 
ed to  exclaim,  with  John  v.  Mueller  :t  "Will  not  the  Chae- 
ronaean  rise  up,  at  some  future  day,  as  a  witness  for  the 
truth  against  a  goodly  number  of  theologians  ?"  The  con- 
flict of  the  pious  soul  with  sore  afflictions,  which  serve  to 
kindle  its  faith,  as  the  fire  waxes  in  the  storm,  where  can 
we  learn  it  better  than  in  the  admirable  book  of  the  Psalms  ? 
And  here,  too,  we  never  find  a  desperate  grappling  with 
dark  powers,  but  trials  which  generate  hope — a  hope  that 
"  maketh  not  ashamed."     But  the  internal  excellencies  of 

*  It  was  a  great  offence  to  the  pious  Mohammedans,  that  the 
Arabian  and  Greek  peripatetics  admitted  a  (pijtfis.  See  the  .More  JW- 
tochim  of  MaimonideS;  ed.  Biixtorf.  Basil,  1629.  p.  159. 

*  "  'w;  'ArJ.fooi  'Ksf  Sswv  6ogav  /3s;3a(av."  See  Plut.  Sept.  Sapient. 
Conviv.  ed.  Wyttenb.  i.  2.  p.  141.  \   IFerkc,  vii.  p.  9. 


OF    THE    OLD  TESTAMENT.  .  21 

thesebooks^which,althoughwritten  during  a  period  of  thir- 
teen centuries  (including  tiie  Apocrypha,)  breathe  the  same 
spirit  of  divine  elevation — are  much  too  numerous,  to  per- 
mit a  particular  enumeration  on  the  present  occasion.  We 
shall  call  the  attention  to  one  only — the  idea  which  the  Is- 
raelites entertained  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  the  conse- 
quent sense  of  guilt,  and  feeling  of  humility.  While  the 
gods  were  regarded  as  more  nearly  resembling  men,  men 
also  thought  themselves  to  be  more  like  the  gods.  An  in- 
solent haughtiness  blighted  all  the  nobler  blossoms  of  vir- 
tue. Socrates  alone,  in  all  antiquity,  knew  himself  to  be 
rich  in  the  midst  of  his  poverty.  Would  that  he  could 
also  have  banished  that  sarcastic  smile,  which  bears  witness 
to  his  pride  of  his  own  humility.  There  is  a  deep  self- 
abasetnent  which  clings  close  to  the  side  of  real  humility , 
with  a  simplicity  at  the  same  time  which  storms  the 
very  heavens.  And  if  David  had  been  a  tenfold  greater 
sinner  than  he  was,  his  sins  had  all  been  obliterated  by  that 
simple-hearted  humility  and  penitence  which  was,  is,  and 
will  continue  to  be,  a  folly  to  all  the  heathen.  Tarry  only  in 
the  perusal  of  the  single  book  of  the  Psalms,  and  an  inexhaus- 
tible store  of  the  profoandest  moral  sentiments  will  unfold 
itself  to  our  view.  "  In  my  prosperity,  I  said,  1  shall  not  be 
moved,"  says  the  royal  servant  of  God,  "  but  thou  didst  hide 
thy  face,  and  I  was  troubled,"*  "Before  I  was  aftllcted  I 
went  astray ;  but  now  have  I  kept  thy  word,"  is  the  song  of 
another  man  of  God.t  Such  lang  age  of  humility  was  not 
heard  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  proud  Greece.  We 
must,  however,  for  want  of  room,  leave  this  part  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  endeavour  to  show, 

II.  The  profound  wisdom,  displayed  in  the  providen- 
tial leadings,  a7id  in  the  religious  institutions  of  the  He- 
brews. 

*  Read  the  excellent  commentary  of  Lutlier,  in  V/alch's  edition 
of  his  Worlds  i.  p.  1391.  +  Ps.  cix.  67. 


22  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE  STUDY 

Let  US   first  of  all  speak  of  the  providential  leadings  of 
the  Israelites. 

"  History,"  says  Leibnitz,  "  instructs  us  in  the  true  philoso- 
phy." The  observation  of  Clarke  also  is  well  founded :  "  In 
religion  men  are  apt  to  be  more  easily  wrought  upon,  and 
more  strongly  affected,  hy  good  testimony  than  by  the 
strictest  argumeiits.''''*  Mankind,  therefore,  who  are  so 
much  under  the  dominion  of  sense,  cannot  receive  the  truth  , 
by  means  of  a  system  of  abstract  demonstrations,  but  only  by 
•means  of  facts  ;  as  he  alone  can  rightly  be  said  to  believe  the 
doctrines  and  wonders  of  Christianity,  who  has  himself  ex- 
perienced and  witnessed  their  power.  The  language  of 
Providence  is  the  most  familiar  language  of  God,  addressed 
to  the  heart  of  every  individual.  Doctrinal  and  ethical 
knowledge  was  communicated,  therefore,  to  the  Israelites, 
by  means  of  the  leadings  of  Providence. 

Why,  however,  some  one  perhaps  will  ask,  did  God  se- 
lect only  one  people,  and  reveal  himself  to  them  ?  How 
comes  it  to  pass  that  other  nations  advanced  almost  as  far, 
Avithout  any  special  divine  guidance?  Why  was  precisely 
this  people  chosen  ?  The  first  (Question  is  met  by  the  inge- 
nious Sti  Martin  with  a  counter-question :  "  How  does  it  ~ 
happen,  seeing  so  many  members  stood  in  need  of  the 
marrow-bones,  that  the  body  has  but  ojie  ?"t  Lessing 
replies  to  the  other  questions,  comparing  the  human  race  to 

*  Discourse  concerning  God,  the  Obligations  of  Nature,  &lc.  p.  199. 

f  In  reference  to  this  sentence,  we  are  constrained  to  adopt  the 
words  of  Caslellio,  on  1  Pet.  iv.  6.,  "Hunc  locum  non  intelligo,  ideo- 
que  ad  verbum  transtuli  "  The  sentence  in  the  original  runs  thus  : 
"  Warum,  da  so  viele  Glieder  der  Markroehren  beduerften,  hat  der 
Leib  nur  Eine  ?"  If  the  passage  means  to  intimate  that  there  is  but  one 
marrow-bone  in  the  human  frame,  it  is  anatomically  incorrect.  If  it 
means  that  while  so  many  individual  members  or  limbs  required  and  are 
furnished  with  marrow-bones,  the  body  or  trunk  contains  but  one,  it 
seems  to  be  an  inapposite  rejily  to  the  question  which  it  is  intendeu 
to  meet. — (Tk.) 


OP    THE    OLD  TESTAMENT.  23 

an  individual  man :  "  Will  education  appear  useless,  because 
the  children  of  nature  sometimes  overtake,  if  not  surpass, 
the  children  of  education  ?"  And  again:  "  Is  it  not  of  capital 
importance,  that  God  should  fashion  to  himself  the  most  un- 
cultivated and  the  most  rebellious  people,  so  that  the  strug- 
gle between  the  divine  and  the  hitman  might  be  developed 
in  the  most  striking  manner?"  All  this  is  undoubtedly  true. 
But  Lessing  has  overlooked  the  fact  also,  that  no  nation — 
the  Persians  the  nearest;  the  Greeks,  not  at  all — could  cope 
with  the  Hebrews,  in  what  Avas  then,  and  is  now,  the  ma- 
terial thing, — in  humble  and  genuine  knowledge  of  God : 
for  every  thing  else  is  mere  tinsel.  He  has  also  overlooked 
another  circumstance,  that  a  people  whose  eye  is  not  single, 
is  entirely  unfit  to  receive  a  revelation ;  that,  therefoie,  nei- 
ther the  imaginative  Indians,  nor  the  vain  and  speculative 
Greeks,  nor  the  haughty  Romans,  could  have  received  a  re- 
velation without  marring  it.  If  we  consult  the  records  of 
the  Hebrews,  we  shall  discover  that  the  experimental  know- 
ledge of  God,  communicated  through  the  medium  of  the 
senses  and  visible  divine  interpositions,  was  the  main  thing 
which  prevented  the  entire  apostacy  of  the  corrupted  race 
from  that  God  who  exclaims  so  emphatically  :*  "  For  who, 
as  I,  shall  call,  and  shall  declare  it,  and  set  it  in  order  for  me 
since  I  appointed  the  ancient  people?  And  the  things  that  arc 
coming  and  shall  come,  let  them  show  unto  them." 

By  the  side  of  the  special  providential  leadings  of  the 
Israelites,  we  may  place  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  as  di- 
vine means  of  grace.  "  Into  this  land  of  wonders,"  says  John 
V.  Mucllcr,t  "  Moses  conducted  the  Israelites.  From  the 
summit  of  the  mountain,  where,  of  old,  adoration  was  of- 
fered,  the  Israelites  received  their  Laws.  But  the  spirit  of 
these  laws  was  itself  a  wonder."  This  law,  and  the  manner 
in  v/hlch  it  was  given,  is  become  an  offence  to  all  unbelievers. 
But  few  of  the  heathen  can  extol  the  law  as  StraboJ  does.§ 

■"''  Is  xliv.  7.  f  Algcm.  Geschichfe,  i.  p.  439  t  Lib.  xvi. 

^  Origen,  in  liis  second  book  cspi'  d^xdv,  expresses  the  belief"  that 


24  IMPORTANCE    OF     THE    STUDY 

Among  its  defenders,  however,  a  great  diversity  of  opinion 
prevails.  The  learned  Spencer  endeavours  to  show,  that  some- 
thing must  of  necessity  be  borrowed  from  paganism,  for  the 
use  of  the  people  of  Israel,  if  the  stiff-necked  race  were  to  be 
prevented  from  entire  apostacy.  Opposed  to  him  stands 
Witsen,  who  seeks  to  prove,  that  every  thing  which  the  Is- 
raelites possess,  is  peculiarly  and  appropriately  their  own. 
Between  the  two  is  Warburton,  who,  from  the  circumstance 
that  only  terrestrial  rewards  and  punishments  are  insisted  on, 
thinks  to  establish  the  divine  origin  of  the  Law.  If,  now, 
this  one  thing  is  indubitably  certain,  that  the  other  nations 
have  not  been  entirely  neglected  by  God, — that  they  have 
derived  many  a  divine  stamen  from  the  primeval  revelation 
made  toman;  andif  we  seek  to  ascertain  the  principle  of  the 
universal  economy  of  God,  it  will  then  appear  to  us  perfectly 
clear,  why  the  Israelites  had  so  much  in  common  with  other 
nations.  For,  it  seems  to  be  established  in  the  universal 
economy  of  the  divine  decrees,  that  a  ceremonial  worship 
and  a  sacrificial  service  should  every  where  precede  the 
worship  "in  spirit  and  in  truth."  Whether  the  nations 
would  not  at  once  have  received  a  system  of  spiritual  doc- 
trines ;  or,  whether  the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  are  not 
already  ripe  for  a  purer  faith,  is  beyond  the  power  of  any 
mortal  to  decide.  We  shall  see  and  know,  however,  when  the 
dial-plate  is  removed  from  the  grand  clock-work  of  the  world. 
We  find,  therefore,  among  all  the  pagan  nations,  imposing 
ceremonies  ;  and  among  the  Jews  also,  a  splendid  external 
worship;  but — and  here  is  the  striking  difference — monothe- 
ism, and  a  symbolical,  and  typical  meaning  stamp  upon  the 
Israelitic  worship  a  peculiar  character.  The  religious  laws 
of  the  Jews  had  plainly  two  grand  objects  in  view ; — to  in- 
scribe monotheism  upon  the  very  tablet  of  the  heart,  and 
to  awaken  a  lively  sense  of  sin.  Sin,  Sin !  This  is  the 
word  which  is  heard  again  and  again  in  the  Old  Testament ; 

a  clear  undcvstandinrr  of  the  reasons  of  the  Israelitic  economy,  and  of 
all  the  Levitical  laws,  belongs  to  the  privileges  of  the  future  life." 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  25 

and  had  it  not  there,  for  centuries,  rung  in  the  ear,  and  fas- 
tened on  the  conscience,  the  joyful  sound  of  Grace  for 
Grace  could  not  have  been  heard,  at  the  time  of  Christ,  as 
the  watchword  of  the  New  Testament.  What  need  of 
Grace  have  those  heathen,  who  will  hear  nothitjg  of  Sin, 
while,  alas !  they  feel  but  too  much  its  destructive  conse- 
quences ?  To  this  end  was  the  whole  system  of  sacrifices ; 
to  this  end,  the  priesthood, — that  all  flesh  might  know  that 
it  is  grass.  It  was  obviously  essential  that  thereby  the  law 
should  prepare  the  way  for  Christianity.  In  every  view,  the 
sacrificial  worship  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  un- 
accountable institutions  of  the  ancient  world.  Strange,  in- 
deed, that  uncorruptcd  nature,even  without  the  aid  of  grace, 
should  feel,  in  so  lively  a  manner,  its  dependance  upon  God, 
and  its  deep  pollution !  Indeed,  we  are  constrained  to  adopt 
the  words  of  the  wise  Messenger  :*  "  Do  you  ask  if  this  sen- 
timent descended  from  remote  antiquity?  Or  how  this  rever- 
ential fear  of  the  unseen  God,  having  once  become  current 
among  men,  could  be  propagated  to  the  succeeding  genera- 
tions ?  The  answer  is  easy.  Water  descends  with  ease,  and 
finds  its  own  way  ;  bat,  by  tracing  the  stream  upwards,  we 
arrive  at  length  at  a  point  which  is  the  highest,  and  there  the 
water  no  longer  descends,  but  gushes  from  the  fountain.  It 
is  a  more  difficult  question  than  many  are  wont  to  imagine, 
how  the  first  sacrificer  came  by  the  idea  of  a  sacrifice."! 

*  Claudius'  Werke  iii.  p.  65.  [Matthias  Claudius,  who,  from  the 
titlepage  of  his  miscellaneous  writinjrs  (Sacmtliche  Werke  dps  WandS' 
hecker  Bolcn,)  was  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the  Wandsbeck 
Messenger,  was  born  in  Holstoin,  in  1743,  and  died  in  1815,  and  is 
numbered  among  llie  most  original  and  ingenious  writers  of  his  day.  J 
(Tr.) 

f  Grotius — what  a  man  by  the  side  of  many  of  o'lr  day! — is  of  thn 
sams  opinion.  De  Veritat.  Rel.  Chr.  i.  h.  7.  "Sunt  vero  instituta 
quaedam  ita  hominibus  communia,  ut  non  tam  naturae  instinctui, 
aut  evidenti  rationis  collectioni,  quam  perpetuae  traditioni  accepta 
fcrri  dcbeant :  qualis  olimfuit  victimaruni  in  sacris  mactalis. 


26  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

The  belief  also  in  one  only  God,  what  a  tone  of  genuine 
piety  it  produced  !  This  has  not  been  hitherto  sufficiently 
appreciated.  The  gods  of  the  Greeks  were  exalted  men, 
who,  being  unequal  in  might,  were  embroiled  in  mutual  con- 
tentions. As  he  who  knows  no  better  protection  and  no 
surer  defence,  than  the  favour  of  a  powerful  party,  never 
can  attain  to  quietude  and  tranquillity ;  but,  one  while,  full  of 
anxiety,  lest  his  party  should  be  forced  to  succumb ;  at  an- 
other, disquieted  with  solicitude,  lest  he  should  lose  its  fa- 
vour, must  dierish  in  his  bosom  an  everlasting  conflict  and 
dread ;  so  aiso  was  it  impossible  that  an  unclouded  spiritual 
life  could  dawn  in  the  bosom  of  a  serious-minded  Greek. 
He  could  not  say  with  the  Psalmist :  "  Truly  my  soul  waiteth 
upon  God."  An  unceasing  ebb  and  flow  must  have  disquieted 
the  fainting  heart,  when  one  deity  was  known  to  hurl  defi- 
ance in  the  face  of  another : 

W  snot  ^firria^u  fj.sv 

Aurars  |i(^ai5  ■n'vsu/jia  x^a^aivoj, 
Ku/i,a  8s  ifovTou  T^aj^s?  ^o5ic.j 
Sv'y)(_C}CSiSv  Tuv  <;■'   ou^aviwv 
"ArfT^wv  SioSovs,  sg  T£  xsXaivov 
Ta^Ta^ov  a|(5v]v  ^i-^sis  ^s'/xag 
Touf^iov,  avayjcrjg  ffTSpgafg  oivaig* 

"  Let  the  sharp  and  jagged  lightning  be  hurled  against  me ; 
let  the  air  be  convulsed  by  the  thunder  and  the  rage  of 
fierce  winds ;  let  the  tempest  upturn  the  earth  from  its  low- 
est foundations,  and  confound,  in  its  frightful  whirl,  the  waves 
of  the  sea  and  the  course  of  the  stars ;    let  him  plunge  mc, 

*  Aeschylus,  Promelheus,  vs.  1045.  ed.  Glasg. 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  27 

by  the  irresistible  whirlwind,  into  gloomy  Tartarus  ;  still,  he 
cannot  slay  me."  Such  was  far  from  being  the  case  with 
the  Hebrew.  He  knew  that  Ms  God  was  the  God  of  heaven 
and  earth,  who  gave  to  all  nations  their  habitations,  to  whom 
"  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  swear."*  The 
effects  of  this  constant  flowing  forth  of  the  heart  toward  the 
only  living  and  the  true  God,  are  known  to  those  who  lead 
a  spiritual  life.  What  it  means,  to  look  away  from  man,  and 
to  look  solely  to  God,  was  well  understood  by  all  the  holy 
men  of  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  Church,  by  all  the 
martyrs,  and  by  Luther  also,  when  he  replied  to  the  Prince 
Elector :  "  You  cannot  protect  me  by  your  might,  but  /can 
protect  1/oit  by  my  prayers." 

Such  then  were  the  effects  of  the  faith  in  the  only 
true  God.  Still  more  beneficent  was  the  faith  in  the  only 
living  God,  as  the  Holy  One  who  reigns  above  the  powers 
of  Nature.  The  deities  of  the  Greeks  were  dependant  pro- 
fessedly upon  Nature.  Of  course,  there  was  nothing  in 
their  system  by  which  the  soul  of  man  might  range  beyond 
the  limits  of  time.  Nay,  terrestrial  things  were  even  conse- 
crated in  the  eye  of  the  Greek.  It  seemed  therefore  to  him 
temerity,  to  lift  himself  above  them  and  see  them  beneath 
his  feet. 

If  we  direct  our  attention  to  the  political  portion  of  the 
Law,  we  shall  find  that  in  this  respect  the  institutions  of  Mo- 
ses will  cope  with  those  of  any  other  nation.  The  natural 
sentiment  of  humanity  and  equity  was  laid  at  the  foundation, 
and  from  this  principle  proceeded  most  of  the  commands. 
Witness  the  humanity  and  gentleness  toward  strangers,  wi- 
dows, orphans,  and  even  beasts.  How  tender  is  the  prohi- 
bition (2  Mos.  xxii.  21.  xxiii.  9.) :  "  Thou  shalt  neither  vex 
a  stranger  nor  oppress  him :  for  ye  know  the  heart  of  a 
stranger,  seeing  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt." 
And  again  (3  Mos.  xix.  34.) :    "  But  the  stranger  that  dwell- 

*  Is.  xlv.  23. 
3  E 


28  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

eth  with  you,  shall  be  unto  you  as  one  born  among  you,  and 
thou  shalt  love  him  as  thyself."  Witness  also  the  numerous 
commands  concerning  widows  and  orphans,  in  substance  as 
follows :  Ye  shall  wrong  neither  the  widow  nor  the  or- 
phan :  for  they  will  cry  unto  me,  and  I  ivill  hear  their 
cry,  and  my  anger  shall  burn,  so  that  you  shall  be  slain 
with  the  sivord,  and  your  wives  shall  be  made  widows 
and  you  children  orphans.  Compare  2  Mos.  xxii.  15.,  3 
Mos.  xix.  32.,  5  Mos.  xv.  7.,  5  Mos.  xxiv.  10.,  5  Mos.  xxiv. 
14.  17.,  and  in  relation  to  beasts,  2  Mos.  xxiii.  11.,  3  Mos. 
xxii.  24.,  5  Mos.  xxii.  1.  And  before  all  other  commands, 
those  which  enjoin  as  follows  :  Thou  shalt  love  God  su- 
premely, and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself* 

This  Law  and  this  religious  service,  were,  it  is  true,  a  mere 
vail.  They  became,  about  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  more 
and  more  spiritless  and  nerveless.  Then  it  was  that  the 
winged  Psyche  burst  from  its  chrysalis  state,  and  extended 
its  wings  toward  heaven.  Until  this  happened,  holy  men 
were  sent  continually,  down  to  a  very  late  period,  who  breath- 
ed forth  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty,  and  enlivened  the  age. 
We  poor  mortals  are  in  a  fallen  state,  and  so  long  as  we  are 
not  enlightened  from  above,  have  no  scale  by  which  to  mea- 
sure what  is  Divine,  when  presented  to  us.  Hence  the  con- 
tempt of  the  natural  man  for  the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  is 
only  after  long  wrestling  and  agonizing,  that  we  come  to  par- 
ticipate in  a'^y  illumination  ;  and  as  in  divine  matters  every 
one  knows  only  as  far  as  his  own  experience  extends,  so  we 
become  acquainted  with  what  is  divine  in  the  Scriptures,  just 
in  the  proportion  in  which  it  begins  to  increase  in  ourselves. 
This  is  particularly  true  in  the  reading  of  the  Prophets. 
Their  words  must  appear  dry  and  barren  to  every  heathen,  and 

*  On  this  and  other  points  discussed  in  this  Essay,  I  would  refer 
the  reader  to  George  Mueller's  Philosophische  Aufsaetze— a  book 
full  of  profound  thoughts. 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  29 

we  cannot  be  surprised  to  find  him  resorting,  with  a  hnn- 
dred-fold  more  gratification,  to  Homer  and  Anacreon.  But 
when  we  receive  the  Spirit  of  God  as  our  teacher,  a  new 
sense  is  generated  ; — then  we  understand  the  prophecies, 
the  miraculous  annunciations,  and  the  unfathomable  depth 
of  the  spiritual  meaning.     More,  however,  of  this  below. 

If  we  wish  to  obtain  a  correct  view  of  the  Prophets,  we 
must  transport  ourselves  entirely  into  antiquity.  Origen 
{Contr.  Cels.  i.  36.)  regards  it  as  certain,  that  the  heathen 
world  had  revelations  of  the  future.  That  the  Jews  might 
not  apostatize,  it  was  necessary,  says  he,  that  they  also  should 
have  their  prophets ;  and  for  these  prophets  they  must  have 
been  indebted  to  God  himself.  From  whatever  source  the 
pagan  priests  may  have  derived  their  knowledge  of  the  fu- 
ture,* the  Jewish  prophets  had  theirs  undoubtedly  from  God. 

*  For  this  field,  the  magnetical  and  somnambn'istical  phcnume- 
na  of  our  day,  furnish  entirely  new  results.  It  fares  however  with 
these  inquiries,  as  with  tii?  ptiilosophy  of  Kant.  StilHng  thought, 
that  Providence  had  now  laid  open  another  door,  by  which  mankind 
might  enter  heaven;  inasmuch  as  philosophy  herself  had  exposed 
her  own  weakness.  How  very  few,  however,  is  it  probable,  have  thus 
arrived  at  the  truth  !  By  the  phenomena  of  magnetism,  again,  it  was 
thought,  that  mankind  must  certainly  be  convinced  of  a  God  who 
reigns  in  and  over  Nature.  In  place  of  this,  however,  the  advocates 
of  pantheism  undertake  to  prove,  by  means  of  magnetism,  the  iden- 
tity of  the  sou!  and  the  body,  and  make  Jesus  nothing  but  a  magne- 
tiser.  What  shall  we  conclude  from  these  things?  That  the  Gospel 
will  be  its  own  witness.  Still,  however,  the  theologian  can  always 
employ  those  phenomena  for  the  advantage  of  his  department.  Na- 
tuie  is  in  itself  indifferent.  But.  as  soon  as  a  moral  being  begins  to 
stir  up  its  powers  with  good  or  bad  intention,  the  kindred  good  or 
bad  spirits  join  themselves  to  hnn  accordingly.  Besiles,  the  more 
uncorrupted, — the  more  consistent  with  nature  a  man  is,  in  so  much 
the  closer  relation  does  he  stand  to  siirroundmg  nature  Tins  re- 
mark serves  to  explani  why  it  is  ihat,  in  more  ancient  ages,  univer- 
sally, operations  upon  nature  were  frequent.  It  will  als(.  be  plain 
from  this  remark,  that  dni  si  idemfaciiint  non  est  idem.  Mo-es  could 
command  nature;    so  could  the  Egyptian  magicians  also  (if  indeed 


30  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

Anciently  mankind  lived  in  a  more  immediate  connexion 
witli  the  world  above,  than  they  do  at  present.  Hence  the 
lively  sentiment,  that  nothing  could  be  done  sine  Numine. 
It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  we  must  regard  the  prophets. 
They  must  in  every  thing  stand  between  God  and  man. 
Inasmuch  as  the  conducting  of  the  affairs  of  the  Hebrews 
exerted  a  pecu'iarly  important  influence  upon  their  religion 
— for  the  doctrinal  system  of  the  Israelites  was  inscribed  in 
large  characters  upon  their  providential  leadings — prophecy 
also  must,  of  necessity,  have  an  immediate  reference  to  this. 
So  long  as  the  will  of  God  was  thus  communicated  to  the  souls 
of  his  holy  ones,  the  people  continued  in  an  intimate  con- 
nexion with  their  God.  The  new-fashioned  notions  of  those, 
therefore,  are  altogether  erroneous,  who  can  see  in  the  pro- 
phets nothing  but  demagogues  and  poets.  Isaiah  can  with 
as  little  truth  be  styled  the  minister  ofivar,  in  the  cabinet 
of  Hezekiah,  as  Tiresias,  the  minister  of  religion,  at  the  court 
of  Oedipus  ;  or  the  Bramin  Bidpai,  Chancellor  of  state  of 
the  wise  Dabschelim  of  India.  Still  more  strange  does  it 
sound,  to  hear  some  speak  of  court-prophets,  as  of  court- 
comedians.  With  what  propriety  can  those  be  denominated 
demagogues,  who  manifested  their  zeal  toward  the  kingdom, 
because  the  worship  of  God  was  sinking  or  rising ; — who 
threatened  wars  only  as  the  punishment  of  ungodliness,  who 
promised  peace  only  as  the  reward  of  piety,  who  never 

they  wore  not  mere  jugglers);  to  the  former,  therefore,  every  thing 
was  possible ;  to  the  latter  only  much  was  possible.  The  principle 
of  self  is  always  corrupt;  the  principle  of  Ihe  subjection  of  self  to 
Gnd  is  always  divine.  Again,  nothing  can  be  more  absurd  and  un- 
historical  than  to  refuse  assent  to  all  the  accounts  of  oracular  histo- 
ries. How  very  definite  and  express  are  many  narratives  from  those 
ancient  times.  I  would  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  some  im- 
portant narratives  of  this  kind  drawn  from  the  Arabian  antc-Mohani- 
medan  antiquities.  See,  concerning  the  prophetess  Dharifat  al  Chairj 
Do  Sacy,  in  the  Memoires  cle  V  Acad,  des  Inscript.,  xlviii.  p.  49?. 
634,  &c. 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  31 

sought  their  own  interest,  who  foretold  the  future  and  still 
continued  herdsmen  (as  in  the  case  of  Amos),  and  who,  on 
account  of  their  severe  chastisement  of  apostacy,  must  have 
heen  in  continual  dread  of  being  slain  with  the  sword  and  of 
being  sawn  asunder?  Who  would  venture  to  class  such  men 
as  these,  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,  with  Cleon 
the  leather  maker  ?  And  what  kind  of  poetry  do  they  think 
of,  when  they  cite  Jeremiah  and  Isaiah  in  the  capacity  of 
poets?  The  external  form  was  nothmg  in  their  estimation. 
They  could  not  therefore,  out  of  regard  to  the  form,  be 
styled  poets.  The  spirit,  however,  and  the  towering  flight 
of  the  thoughts,  certainly  cannot  be  denominated  rnerely 
poetry,  provided  we  believe  the  Spirit  of  God  to  be  actively 
operating  upon  the  souls  of  the  men,  and  see  more  in  their 
books  than  the  lofty  aspirations  of  the  human  powers.  If  the 
Spirit  of  God  announced  what  lay  beyond  the  sphere  of  hu- 
man knowledge,  then  the  words  of  the  prophets  were  not 
merely  external  exhibitions  of  the  movements  of  the  soul 
within  ;  they  were  the  ivords  of  God.  If  not,  how  could 
the  prophets  complain  of  false  prophets, — foretellers  of  the 
future,  whom  God  had  not  commissioned  ?  But  even  admit- 
ting they  could  have  done  this,  under  the  influence  of  arro- 
gance and  self-delusion,  how  can  we  account  for  the  exist- 
ence of  a  fact  such  as  we  read  of  in  Jer,  xxviii. :  "  And  Ha- 
naniah  spake  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people,  saying.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  Even  so  will  I  break  the  yoke  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king  of  Babylon,  from  the  neck  of  all  nations  within 
the  space  of  two  full  years."  Then  said  the  prophet  Jere- 
miah unto  Hananiah  the  prophet.  Hear  now,  Hananiah,  The 
Lord  hath  not  sent  thee ;  but  thou  makest  this  people  to 
trust  in  a  lie.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  I 
will  cast  thee  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth  :  this  year  thou 
shalt  die ;  because  thou  hast  taught  rebellion  against  the 
Lord.  So  the  prophet  Hananiah  died  the  same  year,  in  the 
seventh  month."     Is  it  possible  that  Moses  could  have  meant 


32  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STtiDy 

by  a  propbet,  a  poet  and  a  well  meaning  demagogue,  when 
he  threatens,  5  Mos.  xviii.  20. :  "  But  the  prophet  which 
shall  presume  to  speak  a  word  in  my  name,  which  I  have  not 
commanded  him  to  speak  ******  even  that  prophet  shall 
die."  And  again,  in  vs.  21.:  "If  thou  say  in  thine  heart, 
How  shall  we  know  the  word  which  the  Lord  hath  not 
spoken  ?  When  a  prophet  speaketh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
if  the  thing  follow  not,  nor  come  to  pass,  that  is  the  thing 
Avhich  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken,  but  the  prophet  hath  spo- 
ken it  presumptuously;  thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  of  him." 

We  now  proceed  to  the  third  and  most  important  point, 
viz.  to  show, 

III.  The  entire  dependance  of  the  New  Testament 
upon  the  Old; — and  that  Christ  is  the  sum  and 
substance  of  the  Old  Testament:  for,  ^'Non  sapit 
vetus  scriptura,  si  non  Christus  in  ea  intelligatur* — The 
Old  Testament  is  savourless,  if  Christ  be  not  tasted 
in  it.'' 

This  intimate  connexion  between  the  New  and  the  Old 
Testament,  may  be  viewed  in  a  four-fold  light. 

1.  The  principal  features  of  the  New  Testament  ethics 
are  found  also  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  seem  to  have  ori- 
ginated there. 

2.  The  system  of  doctrines  of  the  New  Testament,  is  the 
development  and  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  faith,  con- 
tained in  the  Old  Testament. 

3.  The  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  are  fulfilled  in 
the  New. 

4.  Christ  is  the  centre  of  all  prophecy. 

In  regard  to  the  ethics  of  the  New  Testament,  we  may 
remark  that  three  things  unite  to  constitute  the  harmony  of 
the  Christian  life — hximility,  faith  and  love.  Of  all  these, 
the  presentiment  and  elementary  principle  existed  in  the 

i 

*  Auir.  Tr.  9.  in  Job. 


OF    THE     OLD    TESTAMENT.  3'3 

Jewish  religion,  and  of  the  first  two,  in  the  Jewish  rehgioii 
alone.  We  have  seen  that  humihty  was  the  scope  of  the 
sacrificial  system.  The  priesthood  and  the  Law  were  or- 
dained for  the  purpose  of  awakening  a  sense  of  sin.  Hence 
we  find  such  frequent  and  striking  allusions  to  humihty  in 
the  Old  Testament.  "  The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  them  that  are 
of  a  broken  heart,  and  saveth  such  as  be  of  a  contrite  spirit."* 
He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good ;  and  what  doth 
the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy, 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?t  "  For  thus  saith  the 
high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity ;  I  dwell  in  the 
high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite  and 
humble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  re- 
vive the  heart  of  the  contrite  ones."|  "  For  all  these  things 
hath  mine  hand  made,  and  all  those  things  have  been,  saith 
the  Lord  :  but  to  this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that 
is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word."|j 

It  seems,  then,  that  lowliness  of  mind,  and  a  meek,  hum- 
ble, and  broken  spirit,  which  the  heathen  regarded  as  a  blem- 
ish,§  were  regarded  by  the  Hebrews  as  the  proper  tem- 
perament of  the  soul ;  and  while  the  heathen  extolled  the 
"  elatio  animi,''''  and  the  "  Sujxos  dyauk  "  it  is  recognized 
as  a  prominent  feature  in  the  economy  of  the  God  of  Israel, 
that,  "  He  resisteth  the  proud  but  giveth  grace  to  the  hum- 
ble." 

If,  in  reference  to  this  important  point,  we  examine  the 
views  of  the  pagan  nations  of  the  East,  we  shall  find,  it  is 
true,  among  them,  something  of  a  more  elevated  character, 
than  among  the  Greeks.  But,  in  their  rage  for  speculation, 
they  found  themselves  at  length  upon  a  giddy  elevation. 
"  Father,  mother,  property,  passions,  every  wish,  must  be 
relinquished  in  order  to  arrive  at  that  state  of  self-anuihiJa- 

*  Ps.  xxxiv.  12.  f  Micah.  vi.  8  |  Is.  Iviii.  15. 

(]  Is.  Ixvi.  2.  A  Cic.  (le  Off.  iii.  3?. 


34  IMPORTANCE  OP    THE    STUDY 

tion  in  M^hich  we  can  contemplate  the  Deity  :"  says  the  In- 
dian-Chinese book  Sticheiilhchan^king  *  "  When  the 
true  light  of  God  enters,  then  is  the  sense  of  self-annihilation 
so  great,  that  knowledge  also  ceases :"  is  the  doctrine  of 
the  Nyaya  sect.*  Thus  it  appears  that  self-annihilation,  for 
the  sake  of  God,  was  a  doctrine  of  the  speculative  East. 
This  doctrine  is  unfruitful  in  the  practical  benefits  of  life. 
Still  a  deeper  meaning  lies  in  these  doctrines  than  in  those 
of  the  Grecian  voluptuousness. 

Another  christian  virtue,  which  is  found  in  its  elementary 
state  in  the  Jewish  religion,  is  Faith — a  virtue  utterly  un- 
known to  the  pagan  world.  Faith,  in  the  christian  sense,  is 
"a  firm  belief  and  clear  anticipation  of  a  more  exalted  stage 
of  existence,  into  which  we  enter  through  a  preparation  of 
heart,  although  its  nature  cannot  be  fully  comprehended  by 
us.  Inasmuch  as  we  carry  about  with  us,  in  the  interior  of 
our  heart,  the  image  and  the  seed  of  a  more  exalted  exist- 
ence, as  strangers  and  pilgrims  in  the  world  in  which  we 
live,  we  can,  from  this  very  circumstance,  be  satisfied  within 
ourselves,  of  the  reality  of  the  light  which  beams  to  us  from 
that  higher  stage  of  existence,  and  feel  within  ourselves  the 
truth  of  the  more  exalted  life  which  is  destined  for  us.  The 
Apostle  John,  therefore,  declares,  not  merely  emphatically 
or  figuratively,  but  with  a  profound  and  direct  meaning :  o 
CitrrsJcov — g'p^ei  ^wr/V  aJcliviov. — /jiSTa/Ps/STjxsv  sx  Toi;  ^avocTOU  £(S  Tr;V 
<^w>iv  "  He  that  believeth — has  life  everlasting — has  passed 
from  death  unto  life."  The  Saviour  himself  points  out, 
most  clearly,  the  profound  meaning  of  this  passage,  when  he 
says :  to  u5wp,  S  ^wo'w  k'jtw,  yevijCsTai  Iv  auT^j  'Xif\y^  C(5aT05  dXAo/xs- 
vou  £(5<^wi^v  aiwviov  "  But  the  water  that  I  will  give  him  shall 
be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life."* 

*  Mem.  de  I'  Acad,  xxxviii.  p.  320. 
f  Ayeen  Akbe  ■!.  ed.  (jiatlwic,  p.  397. 
I  JXeandcr's  Berniiard,  p.  332. 


OF    THE    OLD  TESTAMEVT.  35 

In  this  divinely  profound  sense  of  the  word,  the  Hebrews 
wer€  unacquainted  with  Faith.  But  the  cordial,  uncondition- 
al resignation  to  God,  which  appears  in  the  lives  of  the  pious 
Fathers  of  the  Old  Testament,  was  the  most  excellent  pre- 
paration thereto.  With  what  vigour  did  this  spiritual  life 
display  itself,  when  Abraham,  in  obedience  to  the  divine 
command,  could  resign  his  son — his  only  heir,  the  biTspring 
of  many  prayers,  in  whom  was  the  promise  of  the  Seed. 
Jn  the  visions  of  the  night,  tiie  well  known  voice  was  heard. 
Jn  the  morning  he  departs  with  two  of  his  trusty  servants. 
To  no  one,  neither  to  the  mother,  nor  to  the  son,  nor  to  the 
servants,  does  he  make  known  the  conflict  of  faith.  His 
lacerated  heart  betrays  itself  only  in  the  memorable  words : 
•'My  son,  God  will  provide  himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt-otfer- 
ing."  This  is  a  faith — this  is  a  submission,  which  might  well 
exalt  the  patriarch  to  be  the  "  Father  of  the  faithful."* 

Thus  does  the  idea  of  submission  in  faith  run  through  all 
the  books  of  the  Old  Covenant:  nay,  we  might  even  tarry 
at  the  word  Covenant,  and  contemplate  in  it  the  magnitude 
of  the  idea,  of  y ait  h.  What  a  thought!  God  covenants  with 
7nan  !  "A  presumptuous  idea,  if  our  own  invention,  a  lofty 
one,  if  revealed  to  us ;"  says  George  Mueller.  It  could  hardly 
fee  otherwise  than  that  men  should  walk  in  the  strength  of 
faith,  although  this  in  itself  is  so  difficult.  "All  the  circum- 
stances in  which  we  are  involved,"  says  Philo,t  "  persuade 
us  to  confide  in  our  miglit,  our  health,  our  strength,  and  our 
wisdom  :  to  look  away,  therefore,  from  all  these  things,  and 
to  depend  solely  upon  God,  iJ-SyaXr^;  xal  0X0,^^10 j  (havolas  itfiri 
is  an  indication  of  a  great  and  heavenly  tnind.^^ 

But  how  is  it  with  regard  to  Love,  the  remaining  chris- 
tian virtue  ?  Can  we  discover  the  elements  of  this  virtue  also 

*  Compare  what  a  prorour.d  thiiikc-r,  Baurnrrarten-Cnisius.  in  Iiis 
EinleUimg  in  die  Dogmalik.  p.  G7.  says  on  the  t^ubjt'Ct  of  Faith. 

T  Quis  rcrum  divinarvm  Jiccns,  ed.  PfeifTcr  iv.  p.  43. 
3    F 


36  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE     STUDY 

in  the  Jewish  religion  ?  Undoubtedly  we  can.  The  Lonl 
God  thus  commands  the  Israelites  (5  Mos.  vi.  5.) :  "  And 
thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine-  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might."  And  what  does 
be  promise — ^he  who  thus  commands  the  love  of  his  people 

\q  order  to  show  himself  worthy  of  their  love  ?    "  For  the 

mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed  ;  but  my 
kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee,  neither  shall  the  cove- 
nant of  my  peace  be  removed,  saith  the  Lord  that  hath  mer- 
cv  on  thee"  (Is.  liv.  10.).  And  again  :  "  But  Zion  said,  The 
Lord  hath  forsaken  me,  and  my  Lord  hath  forgotten  me. 
Can  a  woman  forget  her  sucking  child,  that  she  should  not 
have  compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb  ?  Yea,  they  may 
forget,  yet  will  I  not  forget  thee"   (Is.  xliv.  14,  15.). 

This  is  indeed  the  language  of  love,  and  a  language  which 
mi<^ht  well  stir  up  the  hearts  of  the  Israelites  to  fulfil,  on  their 
part,  Ihe  command  of  love.  And  if,  after  so  many  affecting 
exhibitions  of  love,  tlie  lightnings  of  wrath  are  seen  to  play, 
still  the  heart  was  already  resolved  and  the  soul  warmed. 
And  this  must  have  been  the  effect  also  of  the  bare  conside- 
ration of  the  providential  leadings  with  which  the  people 
were  favoured,  whom  the  Holy  One  had  chosen  for  his  pe- 
culiar possession.  These  guidances  induced  a  hearty  con- 
fidence ;  and  no  such  confidence  can  exist  without  love. 

Here  we  are  met  by  the  old  objection :  •'  The  God  of  Israel 
wsis  ?L  jealous,  an^rij,  zwa/A/i^/ God."  But  the  expression 
^yO  ^^—a  jealous  God,  denotes,  not  a  ivrathful,  angry 
God,  bat  a  God  who  suffers  not  his  rights  to  be  invaded,  and 
exercises  a  tender  vigilance  over  the  object  of  his  affection. 
In  this  sense  it  becomes  a  precious  epithet.  Besides  this, 
the  reply  of  Origen  may  be  adduced,  in  answer  to  the  objec- 
tion :  "  The  sinner  is  not  merely  to  be  treated  v/ilh  clev^cn- 
cy  ;  his  fears  also  must  be  appealed  to."  Even  now,  after 
the  message  of  love  is  come  to  us  in  the  Gospel,  we  may  still 
peruse  those  startling  passages,  and  acknowledge  with  hu- 


OF    THE    OLD  TESTAMENT.  37 

mility  that  they  conduce  to  our  edification  and  safety,  in  the 
midst  of  our  constantly  recurring  infirmities.  .  Besides,  this 
jealous  God  addressed  his  chosen  ones  in  quite  a  diffierent 
tone  from  that  in  which  he  speaks  to  the  rebeUious  people.* 
When  the  Lord  passed  by  before  Elijah,  it  is  said  (I  Kings  xix. 
II,  12,  13.) :  "And  a  great  and  stron;^  wind  rent  ihe  moun- 
tains, and  brake  in  pieces  the  rocks,  before  the  Lord  ;  but  the 
Lord  was  not  in  the  wind :  and  after  the  wind  an  earthquake  ; 
but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake :  and  after  tbe  earth- 
quake a  fire  ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire  :  and  after  the 
fire  a  still  small  voice.  And  it  was  so,  when  Elijah  heard  it, 
that  he  wrapped  his  face  in  his  mantle  and  went  out,  &;c." 

Such  then  is  the  love  of  God  towards  men,  and  such  the 
love  of  men  towards  God.  In  regard  to  the  love  of  men  for 
their  fellow-men,  how  can  it  be  expressed  in  more  direct 
terms  than  in  the  command :  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour 
as  thyself."  Here  the  idea  of  love  is  sufficiently  elevated. 
That  some  degenerate  minds,  at  a  later  period,  lowered  and 
contracted  this  precious  command,  cannot  hurt  the  command 
itself. 

Thus  we  see,  even  in  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  the  embryos 
of  the  celestial  and  harmonious  christian  virtues ;  and  as  sooa 
as  humility  and  love  burst  forth  into  full  and  vigorous  life, 
we  find  lowly  and  aftectionate  hearts,  as  that  of  an  Anna,  an 
Elizabeth,. a  Mary,  a  Simon,  and  a  Joseph,  ready  to  welcome 
them. 

And  if  the  moral  elements  of  the  christian  life  can  be  found 
in  the  Jewish  religion,  the  same  may  be  said  of  tlie  doctrines 
of  Christianity.     A  two-fold  view,  however,  may  be  taken  of 

*  It  is  well  remarked  by  Procopius  (on  Sam.  i.  21.) :  sVjo'rjfAatvsa'- 
Sai  6si  wg  o'i  smfl'T-^fxovfb  tou  -ff^oTe^ou  XaoC  v/TTOv  sip^o'vi^ov  Twv  ff(^ii.aTi- 
xwv  Tou  vofiou  'Ka.^a.yyzk^kTuy.  To  which  we  may  add,  that  aii  were 
required  to  sacrifice  in  the  Temple,  Elias,  howevei,  sacrifices  upon 
Carmel,  and  Samuel  in  Mizpeh. 


38  IMPOHTANCE    OF    THE  STUDY 

this  matter.  All  theologians  are  ready  to  acknowledge  the 
intimate  connexion  between  the  doctrines  of  the  Old  and 
those  of  the  New  Testament.  Some  of  them,  however,  aiiect 
to  show  liow,.  m  the  natural  progress  of  human  things,  the 
Gospel  might  grow  out  of  the  rehgion  of  the  Hebrews;  while 
others,  admitting  an  unremitting  providential  guidance  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  endeavour  to  prove  that  the  "  Ancient  of 
days"  designed  gradually  to  prepare  all  hearts  and-  mmds  for 
the  coming  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Adopting  a  process 
of  inductive  reasoning,  we  may  arrive  at  the  truth  by  showing 
that  tile  Hebrew  nation  is  an  inexplicable  riddle  to  ttie  meje 
historian  ;  that  their  sentiments  are  a  wonder,  their  law  a 
wonder,  their  leadings  a  wonder  ;  and  then,  from  the  cir- 
cumstances and  condition  of  the  world,  and  of  the  Hebrew 
nation  at  iiie  time  of  Christ,  as  well  as  from  the  history  of 
our  Lord,  we  may  conclude,  with  the  utmost  confidence,  that 
Christianity  never  could,  in  the  natural  course  of  things,  have 
grown  out  of  the  Jewish  religion.  Still  this  mode  of  reason- 
ing may  not  prove  so  coaviucing,  as  to  enter  into  the  doctrine 
of  redemption,  and  to  become  acquainted  with  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  then,  on  the  authority  of  Christ,  to  look 
for  more  in  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  than  at  first  sight  pre- 
sents itseif ;  and  to  admit  no  natural  development  without  the 
special  superintendence  of  God.  He  who  pursues  thiscoarse — 
who  suffers  himself  to  be  born  agam  of  the  Holy  Ghost — is 
liberated  from  all  doubts ;  for  it  is  not,  properly  speaking, 
the  understanding  that  doubts,  but  the  will. 

Which  now  are  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Testament  that 
are  exhibited  to  us  in  the  Old?  In  our  opinion, all  are  found 
in  the  Old  Testament,  more  or  less  clearly  delineated.  The 
proofs  of  this  we  cannot  introduce  here  in  detail,  nor  is  it 
necessary.  We  confine  ourselves  to  a  remark  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  Old  Testament  doctrines. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  many  doctrines  made  their  ap- 
pearance, for  the  first  time,  after  the  lapse  of  many  ages — 


OF    THE    OLD  TESTAMENT,  39 

for  example,  after  the  captivity.  Are  these  doctrines — the 
doctrines,  to  wit,  of  Immortality,  of  a  Resurrection,  of  a 
Universal  Judgment,  of  Demons, — all  of  foreign  origin? 
And  ifso,  are  they  therefore  false  and  fabulous?  Unfortu- 
nately the  testimony  out  of  those  times  is  so  deficient,  that, 
without  being  able  to  adduce  any  thing  satisfactory,  we  are 
driven  to  hypothesis.  Resting  on  the  authority  of  Christ 
and  listening  to  the  words  of  Cicero  and  of  Augustine :  "  nul- 
la falsa  doctrina  est  quae  non  aliquid  veri  permisceat,"  we 
may  admit  that  in  every  ancient  religion,  there  were  some 
divine  elements.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  religion  of 
the  Parsees.  He  has  not  left  himself  without  a  witness  in 
any  nation. 

Now  we  find,  on  the  other  hand,  allusions  to  various  doc- 
trines, in  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament ;  for  example,  to 
the  doctrine  of  Immortality,  in  the  translation  of  Enoch  and 
Elijah;*  to  the  Resurrection,  in  Ps.  xvii.  15;+  and  to  the 
Universal  Judgment,  in  the  innumerable  passages  where  the 
expression  occurs  K"11i  D1^  "  the  great  and  terrible  day 
of  the  Lord  ;^'  and  finally,  to  the  doctrine  of  Evil  Spirits 
in  Gen.  iii.  where  the  serpent  as  certainly  denotes  the  "  father 
of  lies,"  as  in  the  Zend-avcsta,  it  denotes  Ahriman  ;  and  in 
Mos.  xvi.  8.  10.  2G.,  where  Gesenius  also  adopts  the  mean- 
ing, evil  spirit.X  Hence  we  are  constrained  to  believe  (as 
De  Wette,  on  Ps.  cciv.,  supposes,  and  as  Drusius  before  him 

*  Compare  1  Kiriffs  xix.  4-  whore  Elijali  exclaims;  "Now,  O 
Lord,  take  away  my  life" — in  which  expression  a  peaceful  and  liappy 
removal  is  intended,  a  violent  one  is  denoted  by  another  word  ^iJ^X 

t  See  De  Wette  on  this  passage:  '■  If  our  view  of  the  passage  be 
correct,  we  liave  found  here,  in  this  psalm,  the  hope  of  im.mortality." 

\  The  Jews  have  also  recognized  an  evil  spirit — AsascL-  see  Ei- 
scnmengcr  Entilecktes  Jiidcnthiim  \.  p.  823.  825.  The  Christians  of 
tit.  John  also  have  an  evil  spirit  of  this  name.  Vid.  Onomasticon  ad 
F-jibr.  Adami.  p.  31. 


40  IMPORTANCE    OP     THE    STUDY 

had  attempted  to  prove,)  that  the  Hebrews  also  had  a  kind 
of  secret  do^jtrine,  which  was  handed  down  traditionally 
amOiig  the  better  informed  and  wiser  sort,  and  faintly  glim- 
mers, now  and  then,  through  their  common  didactic  writings'.' 
In  support  of  this  opinion,  we  might  also  adduce  the  univer- 
sal admission  among  the  Jews  of  a  HS  y^'^l^'  HIin-aQ 
oral  law :  at  least  we  may  conclude,  from  this  universal 
admission,  that  the  opinion  is  not  entirely  without  founda- 
tion. If  this  supposition  then  be  well  founded,  the  circum- 
stances of  declining  Judaism  and  those  of  declining  pagan- 
ism, are  very  similar.  Creutzer  has  shown  that  the  heathen, 
as  soon  as  Christianity  threatened  to  subvert  their  entire  sys- 
tem, brought  to  viev/  whatever  in  their  mysteries  bore  a  resem- 
blance to  the  christian  doctrines,*  and  here  and  there  accom- 
modated it  perhaps  to  the  christian  system.  In  the  same 
manner,  as  it  seems,  the  Jewish  religion  came,  in  the  dispen- 
sations of  Providence,  into  such  close  contact  with  the  Per- 
sian doctrines,  that  the  instructions  which  had  long  been  be- 
queathed from  one  to  another  in  cautioils  secrecy,  at  length 
were  published,  were  illustrated  and  perfected  by  their  close 
connexion  with  the  Persian  doctrines,  and  thus  served  to  lay 
the  fotmdation  for  the  new  order  of  things  which  Christ  intro- 
duced.! This  appears  to  us  to  have  been  the  true  origin  of 
these  doctrines.  Providence  designed  that  they  should  be 
disseminated,  just  before  the  advent  of  Christ,  in  order  that 

*  Compare  what  Mostieim  says  in  his  treatise:  "l>e  turhata 
per  Plalonicos  Ecclc.iia,"  }.  xxv.  and  Hebenstreit :  "  DeJamhlichi  doc- 
irina,  chrisiianae  rcUgioni,  quam  imitari  sludet,  noxia. 

f  How  little  ground  we  hare  to  reject  all  the  doctrines  of  the  ex- 
tra-Jewish world,  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  so  much  in  the  Mo- 
saic ritual  was  of  Egyptian  origm,  and  was  consecrated  only  by  its 
reception  mto  the  Jewish  religious  service.  It  is  universally  th?  case 
that  where  things  divine  have  gained  the  ascendancy  of  things  pro- 
fane, the  previous  tbrm  of  the  profane  is  not  oblitevatodj  but  is  rea- 
dered  sacred. 


OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  41 

be  who  was  merely  to  bring  the  new  Spirit,  and,  by  means  of 
this,  to  destroy  the  veil  of  the  law,  and  to  illustrate  these  doc- 
trines, need  furnish  no  system  of  doctrines,  but  merely  an- 
nounce, by  his  precepts  and  his  life,  the  one  great  doctrine : 
*'  God  hath  so  loved  the  world. "  Those  post-Babylonian 
doctrines  were  illusti'ated,  however,  by  the  instructions  of 
Jesus  and  the  Apostles  to  such  a  degree,  that  they  appear  in 
an  entirely  new  and  spiritual  light,*  as  the  pure  and  disem- 
bodied spirit,  escaped  from  the  lifeless  body  of  the  Rabbinical 
system. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  third  connecting  link  between  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testament,  viz.  the  Prophecies.  And 
here  we  may  distinguish  between  such  as  relate  in  general 
to  the  times  of  Christianity — the  kingdom  of  Heaven  upon 
the  earth ;  and  such  as  treat  merely  of  the  person  of  the  Sa- 
viour. If  any  portion  of  the  Scriptures  has  suffered  from  a 
loose  treatment,  it  is  the  prophetical  portion  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. Without  considering  that  the  New  Testament  was 
composed  by  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  within  the  space  of  a 
few  years,  whilst  the  Old  Testament  was  written,  during  the 
space  of  eleven  centuries,  by  priests,  kings,  neatherds,  and 
legislators — all,  however,  impelled  by  one  and  the  same 
spirit ; — without  considering  this,  the  exposition  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  conducted  like  that  of  the  New,  as  if  all  its 
books  had  been  the  production  of  one  and  the  same  age.  But 
we  who  stand,  as  it  were,  upon  the  summit  of  almost  six  thou- 
sand years,  must  survey,  with  an  eye  that  takes  in  the  whole 
extent  of  universal  history,  the  ages  that  are  past,  in  order 
rightly  to  understand  the  plan  of  the  "Ancient  of  Days," 

*  Compare,  for  example,  what  Sueskind  (Jlagazin,  x.  p.  92.)  says 
on  the  notions  which  the  Jews  entertained  concerning  the  Messiah, 
as  about  to  awaken  the  sleeping  dead,  and  to  judge  the  world;  and 
concerning  his  kingdom  at  the  end  of  the  world.  This  learned  and 
faithful  theologian  exposes  the  wide  difference  between  the  Rabbini- 
cal and  the  cJiristian  exhibition  of  the  doctrine. 


42  IiaPORTAJ.CE    OF    THE    STUDY 

even  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people.  He,  however, 
"  who  hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand, 
and  meted  out  heaven  with  the  span,"  has  also  set  bounds 
to  the  times  of  knowledge ;  and  if  thousands  on  thousands 
of  years  must  roll  away,  ere  the  bucket  be  filled,  drop  b}^ 
drop,  still  we  must  believe  that  "  with  him  a  thousand  years 
are  as  one  day,"  and  exclaim  with  the  prophet :  "  Who  hath 
taught  him  knowledge  and  showed  to  him  the  way  of  under- 
standing ?" 

Thus  we  find  that  the  idea  of  a  Kingdom  of  God,  of  a  Day 
of  Judgment,  and  of  a  Spiritual  King  of  Israel,  unfolded  it- 
self gradually  among  the  people  of  God.     It  is  not  our  design 
here  to  run  into  detail,  but  to  present  only  the  prominent 
ideas.     There  are  implanted  in  the  human  soul  certain  semi- 
na  eternitatis — seeds  of  eternily,  as  Jos.  Scaliger  styles 
them  ;  that  is, certain  enlivening  conceptions,  which  a  rational 
faith  embraces  and  clings  to  in  the  ceaseless  whirl  of  temporal 
affairs.     Such  sentiments  were  prevalent  among  the  heathen 
of  more  ancient  times,  and  are  still  prevalent  among  many 
of  the  heathen  without  the  limits  of  Europe.     In  Europe, 
however,  many  considered  themselves  too  wise  to  retain  and 
acknowledge  such  sentiments.     Would  that  the  vrords  of  the 
late  genuine  philosopher*  were  taken  to  heart  and  their  truth 
felt.    "  The  conviction  is  indeed  spreading  abroad,  how  very 
slender  is  the  foundation  upon  which  rests  that  vaunted  qua- 
lity, denominated  of  late  years,  strenf^lh  of  mind;  and  that 
it  demands  a  much  greater  strength  of  mind^  to  believe, 
without  cavilling  and  without  the  mania  for  explanation,  the 
mysteries  of  Religion,  than  to  reject,  as  insipid  and  weak, 
every  thing  wJiich  will   not  forthwith  harmonize  with  the 
most  common  rules  of  reason  and  philosophy." 

As  examples  of  such  "seeds  of  eternity,"  we  may  mention 

*  Solger's  Philo^nphischr  Gc.iprncchc — a  Look  fraiiplit  witli  profound, 
valuable  and  correct  views.     Sec  pp.  191.  195.  210,  217.  249. 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  43 

the  notions  of  God,  of  Liberty,  and  of  Immortality,  compre- 
hended and  held  by  the  sound  mind,  through  the  instru- 
mentaUtyof  a  faith  which  transcends  all  knowledge, — which 
observes  rather  than  de^nonstrates,  and  jiistijies  rather 
than  construes.^  Upon  the  same  foundation  rests  also 
the  notion  of  a  primeval  happy  condition  of  man,  of  an  inti- 
mate connexion  between  the  spiritual  and  the  material  world, 
of  a  revelation  from  God,  of  a  Saviour  of  the  world,  and  of 
a  blissful  eternity.  Among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  the 
feeling  of  these  truths  displayed  itself,  and  continues  to 
display  itself,  in  various  ways.  Among  the  Jews,  however, 
this  seed  grew  gradually  till  it  became  "  a  tree,  so  that  the 
birds  of  the  air  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof." 
Two  stars  were  seen  by  their  wise  men  to  twinkle  in  the 
dubious  twilight — a  period  of  terrestrial  felicity,  and  a  Re- 
deemer. As  the  time  approached,  however,  when  both 
should  appear,  these  stars  shed  continually  a  brighter  and 
more  certain  light. 

True,  the  hope  of  a  Redeemer  was  cherished  in  other  na- 
tions also,  under  a  variety  of  forms.  The  Chinese,  the  Thi- 
betans, the  Indians,  the  Persians,  and  the  Greeks,  possess 
their  traditions  concerning  the  golden  age  and  its  return. 

*  It  promises  to  be  an  advantage  to  many  young  and  inexperienced 
minds,  that  the  spiritless  abstraction  of  the  philosophy  of  our  day, 
is  carried  so  far  and  with  such  consistent  conclusiveness,  as  to  render 
it  manifest,  that  the  end  of  all  such  speculation  can  only  be  a  com- 
fortless material  or  ideal  Pantheism,  which  robs  us  of  God,  of  Liberty, 
and  of  Immortality.*  If,  however,  philosophy  would  leave  its  regions 
of  speculation,  and  consider  attentively,  and  with  the  caution  which 
becomes  it,  the  everlasting  wants  of  man,  which  can  never  be  de- 
nied, it  would  then  be  content  to  see  Christianity  entirely  founded  upon 
these  wants.  Then,  with  Koeppen  (Philos.  des  Chrid.  i.  p.  30.),  it 
might  [prove  even  the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin, — the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  a  living  Faith. 

*  For  an  impersonal  God  is  no  God,  an  ideal  Liberty,  no  Liberty,  and  an  ideal  Im- 
mortality, no  Immortality, 

3    G 


44  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

Among  the  Indians,  we  find  Chrishna,  among  the  Persians 
Oschanderbami,  among  the  Irish,  the  hero  Thor,  as  the 
personage  who  is  to  effect  the  dehverance.  But  fable  glim- 
mers with  a  doubtful  and  changeable  light.  Among  the 
Jews,  on  the  contrary,  the  Messiah  is  the  fixed  and  the  bright 
centre  of  all  hope.  At  every  period,  they  believed  him  near 
at  hand,  as  the  Apostles  did  in  regard  to  the  Day  of  the  Lord 
--the  second  appearance  of  the  Messiah.  I  do  not  say,  in- 
deed, that  in  Gen.  iv.  1.  Eve  supposed  already  that  the  Mes- 
siah was  to  come  from  her  womb.  Passing  by  other  argu- 
ments which  might  be  mentioned,  the  Fathers  of  the  Church 
discover  in  this  passage  no  prophecy.  But  Jacob,  beyond 
a  doubt,  believed  his  appearance  near  at  hand.  So  also  did 
David.  It  cannot,  therefore,  with  any  justice,  be  urged  a& 
an  objection  to  the  ninth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  that  the  prophet 
mentions,  as  a  sign  of  a  thing  at  hand,  an  event  which  was 
shrouded  in  the  darkness  of  distant  futurity ;  for  by  the  Is- 
raelites it  was  regarded  as  most  certain,  that  the  Redeemer 
would  come,  and  whilst  the  prophet  recalls  to  their  recol- 
lection this  most  certain  fact  of  redemption,  and  enlarges 
upon  it,  and  confirms  it,  the  promise  which  lay  nearer  at 
hand  becomes  more  certain  and  established.  Nay,  the  no- 
tion of  a  Messiah  was  so  very  prominent  in  all  the  imagina- 
tions and  conceptions  of  the  Hebrews,  that  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  the  prophet  recurs  to  it  again,  inasmuch  as  this  per- 
sonage who  was  to  come,  was  to  satisfy  every  want,  to 
procure  peace  upon  earth,  and  to  re-establish  righteousness, 
holiness,  government,  religion  and  law.  Beyond  all  contro- 
versy, in  the  promise  of  the  Seed,  in  Gen.  iii.,  which  should 
bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent,  the  Messiah  is  meant.  This 
the  christian  asserts  as  confidently,  as  the  Indian  does  that 
the  serpent,  whose  head  is  bruised  by  Chrishna,  is  the  evil 
spirit;*    or  as  the  pagan  Icelander  does  that  the  dragon^ 

*  Maurice's  History  of  Hindoslan  ii.  p.  290. 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  45 

whose  head  is  bruised  by  Thor,is  the  Devil.*  This  precious 
promise  descended,  in  early  times,  from  generation  to  gene- 
ration, until  He  came  "  who  should  come."  Accordinir  to 
the  doctrine  of  Zoroaster,  in  the  last  days  of  the  world  the 
holy  man  Oschanderbami  (Oschanderbegha),  will  come  to 
contend  with  the  evil  spirit,  for  the  space  of  twenty  years. 
He  will  at  length  obtain  the  victory,  justice  will  return,  kings 
will  render  him  homage,  and  peace  will  dwell  upon  the 
earth,  t 

This  glorious  hope  beams  forth  again  for  the  first  time  in 
1  Mos.  xhx.  10,J  in  the  words  of  the  dying  patriarch,  inspir- 
ed by  the  breath  of  the  Eternal.  Whether  the  Messiah  is  in- 
tended in  5  Mos.  xviii.,  admits  of  doubt.  In  the  Psalms  of 
David,  the  light  of  hope  again  shines  with  indubitable  clear- 
ness. The  Second,  and  the  Hundred  and  Tenth  Psalm,  can 
be  explained,  by  a  sound  exegesis,  only  of  the  Messiah.§ 

*  Edda,  Fab.  ii.  25.  27. 

f  Hyde  De  Religione  Pe7-ss.  vetcrum,  ch.  31.  Comp.  Zend-avosta  ii. 
p.  375. 

I  We  particularly  recommend  to  the  reader  to  compare  wliat  Jahii 
has  said,  in  his  Einleilung  ins  Alte  Testament.  Vienna,  1802  p.  607, 
In  the  seventh  or  eighth  century,  appeared,  for  the  first  time,  tiie 
reading  H^'u^.  As  late  as  the  tenth  century,  the  Egyptian  Jew 
Saadias  translated  it — He  whose  it  is.  Geseuius,  also,  by  the  Sfiilok, 
understands  the  Messiah. 

[As  a  compound,  the  word  H/tli'  is  composed  of  J^*,  equivalent 
to  1tJ*N;^  an'J  (17'  the  same  as  "j^  to  him,.  The  expression  "  Until 
Shiloh  come"  would  then  denote :  Until  he  comes  whose  it  (the  sceptre) 
is.  It  may  gratify  some  of  our  readers  to  see  the  different  transla- 
tions of  this  word,  adopted  by  the  ancient  versions.  From  the  Hex- 
apla  of  Origeri  and  the  Polyglot  of  VValtou,  we  extract  the  follovvinf. 
u  diroxSirai --fjr  whom  it  is  reserved:  Aquila  and  Symmachus.  toc 
affoxsi'fASva  a'jTCi — the  things  reserved  for  him :  Septuagmt.  Qui  mi(- 
tendui-  est — who  is  to  be  sent:  Vulgate.  KPf^C^'O — Messiah:  Tar- 
gum  of  Onkelos.  Parificus — the  peaceful:  Samaritan  version.  Is  cu- 
jus  illud  est — He  whose  it  is:  Syriac  version.] — (Tr.) 

§  See  Datiie  Kuinoel.  Messicin.  TFcissag. 


46  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

So  far  we  recognise  in  the  expected  Messiah  a  King^  or 
rather,  a  royal  Priest.  His  Kingdom,  however,  is  not  yet 
described.  A  picture  of  it  is  first  presented  in  the  Prophets. 
Almost  all  of  them  beheld,  with  a  prophetic  eye,  Him  who 
was  to  come  ;  but,  as  the  sun  breaks  through  the  cloud  and 
spreads  around  it  a  thousand  different  hues,  so  tlie  light  of 
this  celestial  hope,  puts  on  its  various  colours  according  to 
the  mind  from  which  it  is  reflected.  Most  of  the  Seers  re- 
present him  as  a  royal  priest.  Isaiah,  with  a  more  definite 
perception,  recognises  him  as  God,  styles  him  the  *'  Ev- 
erlasting  Father, ^^  and  designates  even  the  place  of  his 
appearance,  in  the  passage  (Is.  ix.  1.)  unhappily  mistranslated 
by  Luther:  "It  shall  not,  however,  (always)  be  dark  where 
(now)  is  distress.  Formerly  he  (Jehovah)  afflicted  the  land 
of  Zebulun  and  the  land  of  Naphtali ;  but  then  he  will  hon- 
our the  land  by  the  way  of  the  sea,  beyond  Jordan,  in  Gali- 
lee, of  the  nations.  The  people  that  walk  in  darkness  be- 
hold a  great  light."* 

Another  interval  succeeds,  and  another  prophet  behcJds 
this  same  Deliverer,  and  delineates  even  his  sufferings  (Is.  Hi.). 
Malachi  also,  who  closes  the  series  of  the  divinely  commis- 
sioned prophets,  beheld  Him  who  was  to  come,  as  "the 
Messenger  of  the  Covenant  of  the  Lord,"  who  should  "  sud- 
denly come  to  his  Temple."!  This  "  Messenger  of  the  Cove- 
nant," however,  is  the  very  same  personage  that  conducted 
the  Israelites  in  all  their  journeyings,  that  is,  the  "Teacher 
come  from  God"  for  ever  and  ever.J 

Here  closes  the  Old  Testament.  A  silence  succeeds  for 
the  space  of  nearly  four  hundred  years.     During  this  inter- 

*  From  Gesenius'  German  Translation. — (Tr.) 

t  CI),  ii.  1. 

\  The  nin*  ^kSd— •^"»e^  of  the  Lord,  \s  Jehovah  in  1  Mos. 
six.  21. :  "The  Lord  rained  ******  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of 
heaven."     Compare  1  iV;os.  xxii.  11.  and  following. 


GP    THE     OLD     TESTAMENT.  47 

val,  every  thing  was  ripening  for  the  expected  time  when  the 
foundations  of  the  earth  should  be  shaken.  Daring  this  in- 
terval, was  developed  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  and  of 
J'Visdom  ;  and  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant  assumed  the  more 
glorious  character  of  fVisdom  and  the  Word  of  God,  under 
which  the  Saviour  of  the  world  is  introduced  to  us  by  the 
EvangeHst  John.  The  years  which  intervene  from  Malachi 
until  the  Baptist,  constitute  a  period  of  vast  importance  and 
significancy.  The  semina  aeterna  which  enlivened  the  re- 
ligions of  all  the  Asiatic  nations,  were  brought  toward  wes- 
tern Asia.  All  that  was  valuable  in  these,  and  all  that  was 
adapted  to  instruct  and  enlighten  the  world,  was  concentred 
in  Judea,  for  the  purpose  of  weaving  into  the  texture  of  the 
Jewish  doctrines,  whatever,  from  this  source,  might  be  use- 
ful for  all  ages.  How  could  John  have  delineated,  in  such 
worthy  language,  the  dignity  of  his  Master,  unless,  by  the 
dispensations  of  Providence,  the  idea  of  the  Logos  had  be^ 
come  universally  familiar  ?* 

*  IF  the  wise  providence  of  God  is  manifest  in  bringing  the  West 
and  the  East  into  contact  in  Alexandria,  why  is  it  not  equally  so  in 
the  conimunication  of  ideas  which  flowed  into  the  West,  from  the 
very  ancient  and  venerable  traditions  of  the  East?  Compare  the  fol- 
lowing admirable  passage  from  the  Letters  of  Jnhn  v.  Mueller  xiv.  p. 
299. :  "  Tu  me  demanderas  par  quel  moyenje  me  sms  convaincu  de  V  origine 
divine  de  celui,  qui  est  venu  annoncer  au  monde  rimmorlalite:  je  ne parlerai 
point  du  sentiment  interieur  de  la  verite,  qui  pour  man  cmur  est  une  preuve 
svJTisante ;  mais  je  te  demanderois^  si  tu  rCavois  jamais  vu  le  soleil,  et  si  ton 
ceil  suivoit  un  beau  jour  tous  les  rayons^  qui  en  divergent,  pour  eclairer 
Vunivers,  i'iZ  les  suivoit  jusqu^d  leur  origine,  s'j7  trouvoit  le  point,  duquel  ils 
sortent  tous,  ne  croirois  tu  pas  que  ce  cen/rf,  est  le  soleil  ?  Or,  cela  m''arrive  : 
plus  j'' etudie  Vhistoire  et  mieux  je  vois  que  les  plus  grands  ivenements  de 
Vantiquite  alloient  tous,  par  un  merveilleux  enthainement  au  but,  que  le 
maitre  de  Vunivers  s'eloi:  propose,  de  faire,pnroitre  le  Christ  avec  cette  doc- 
trine dans  le  terns  le  plus  propre  d  lui  faire  prendre  racine." — "  You  will 
ask,  by  what  means  I  am  convinced  of  the  divine  origin  of  Him  who 
came  to  announce  Immortality  to  the  world.  I  shall  say  nothing  of 
the  iawavdfcehng  of  the  truth,  which  for  me  is  a  sufficient  testimonv; 


48  IMPORTANCE  OF    THE    STUDY" 

Side  by  side  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  in  the  pro- 
phets, we  find  the  anticipation  of  his  kingdom.  This  sub- 
ject deserves  a  full  and  particular  consideration.  We  are  con- 
strained, however,  to  restrict  ourselves  in  its  discussion  to 
one  view  of  it.  Accordingly,  we  shall  merely  show  the  fluc- 
tuations of  the  ideas  of  the  prophets  on  this  subject, — some- 
times rising  to  a  glorious  elevation,  and  sometimes  remaining 
at  a  lower  point.  The  humblest  conception  is  that  of  a 
kingdom,  in  which  Israel  shall  enjoy  perfect  tranquillity  from 
without,  shall  be  served  by  their  enemies  as  by  slaves,  shall 
quietly  devote  themselves  to  God,  and  shall  experience  un- 
exampled prosperity  under  a  Governor  of  the  race  of  David.* 
Connected  with  this  view  is  the  idea  also  of  extraordinary 
righteousness  and  holiness,  which  every  individual  will  exhi- 
bit. "  But  ye  shall  be  named  the  Priests  of  the  Lord ;  men 
shall  call  you  the  Ministers  of  our  God.  *****  For  as  the 
earth  bringeth  forth  her  bud,  and  as  the  garden  causes  the 
things  that  are  sown  in  it  to  spring  forth ;  so  the  Lord  God 
will  cause  righteousness  and  praise  to  spring  forth  before  all 
the  nations. "1  "  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  open- 
ed to  the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
for  sin  and  for  uncleanness."|  The  Redeemer  will  come  in 
behalf  of  the  penitent  and  take  away  every  sin.  "  And  the 
Redeemer  shall  come  to  Zion,and  unto  them  that  turn  from 

but  T  would  ask  you  whether,  if  you  had  never  beheld  the  sun,  and 
on  a  clear  transparent  day,  your  eye  should  follow  all  the  rays  which 
pour  from  it  to  illuminate  the  system,  up  to  their  source,  unfil  it 
reached  the  pomt  whence  all  diverged,  you  would  not  conclude  that 
this  centre  is  the  sun?  Now  this  is  just  my  case  :  ihe  more  I  study 
liistory,  the  more  clearly  I  see  how  the  most  important  events 
of  antiquity  were  directed,  by  means  of  a  wonderful  concatenation, 
to  the  great  end  which  the  L6rd  of  the  universe  had  in  view, — to 
brine  about  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah  vi^ith  this  doctrine,  at  the 
very  time  when  it  was  most  likely  to  take  root." 

*  Compare  Luke  i.  74.         -f-  Is.  Ixi.  6.  11.  %  ^ach.  xiii.  1. 


Of    the    0LD    TESTAMENT-  A9 

ti-ansgression  in  Ja^ob,  saith  the  Lord,"*  <'  I  have  blotted 
out,  as  a  thick  cloud,  thy  transgressions,  and,  as  a 
cloud,  thy  sins  :  return  unto  me,  for  I  have  redeemed 
thee.'"']  Blended  with  this  glorious  picture  of  the  holiness 
and  righteousness  of  Israel,  is  the  expectation  of  the  salvation 
which  is  prepared  for  the  heathen  nations  also.  In  this  well 
defined  hope,  that  the  whole  heathen  world  will  become  ac- 
quainted with  Israel's  God,  the  divine  character  of  the  pro- 
phecy displays  itself  with  striking  clearness.  "  Ho  every 
one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath 
no  money ;  come  ye,  buy  and  cat ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and 
milk  without  money,  and  without  price."J  "  Then  thou 
shalt  see,  and  flow  together,  and  thine  heart  shall  fear,  and 
be  enlarged  ;  because  the  abundance  of  the  sea  shall  be  con- 
verted unto  thee,  the  forces  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come  unto 
lhee,"§  The  prophecy  mounts  still  higher  in  another  place, |[ 
where  Judaism  is  described  as  almost  obliterated;  for  the 
prophet  announces  that  the  Lord  would  take  of  the  hea- 
then for  priests  and  for  Leviles,  and  that  missioiiaries 
from  among  the  Jews  should  go  forth  into  all  lands  to 
2ireach  the  Lord  to  the  heathen.  Well  then  might  the 
prophet  foretell  that  the  earth  should  "  be  full  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea,"1[  and  "  the 
Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth  :  in  that  day  shall  there 
be  one  Lord,  and  his  name  One.'"** 

It  is  beyond  our  present  faculties  to  determine  a  priori 
the  divine  dispensations.  We  must  deduce,  from  facts  and 
revelations,  our  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  God.  It  is  not 
surprising,  therefore,  that  the  annunciation  of  the  coming 
Salvation,  was  made  in  such  a  variety  of  ways,  and  in  so  ge- 
neral a  manner.  We  remark,  b)'  the  way,  that  whenever  a 
divine  revelation  is  blended  with  the  affairs  of  time,  it  is 

*  Is.  lix.  20.         f  Is.  xliv.  22.  \  Is.  Iv.  1.  }  Is.  Ix.  5. 

II  Is.  Ixvi.  19.  and  following.  If  Is.  xi.  9.        •**  Zach.  xiv,  9. 


50  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDV 

more  intimately  connected  with  them,  than  the  human  un^- 
derstanding,  reasoning  a  priori,  would  have  been  led  to  ex- 
pect.*    Hence  it  happens,  that  the  expectation  of  the  king- 

*  The  ancients,  both  christians  and  pagans,  have  constantly  alluded 
to  the  deficiency  of  all  human  modes  of  representing  divine  thinag, 
and  of  accommodating  the  ways  of  God  to  human  comprehension. 
What  golden  vs^ords  are  those  of  Gregory  Nanzianzen  {Opp.  ed  Pru- 
naeus.  i.  p.  545.  m  the  Thirty-Fourth  discourse)  :     "  ufi'KS^  d(5!;vaT0'/ 
vtrs^S'/^vai  rrjv   lauTs  tfxiav,  xai    Tw  Xi'av   inrsiyofxhu)  (cp^avsi  ya.?  dsi 
todirm  o(Tou  xaraXafJo/SavSTai),  rj  toX^  o^aro~s  irXT^ffiaffaj  ttjv  o-vj^iv  Siya 
<rS  av  ^s(Tu  (pWTog  xul  ds'^05,  >j  tuv  uSaruv  l^w  tyiV  vr]xTriv  qjutfiv  Sio'kKf- 
Sai'vsiv  Htus  a.^-'i)-)(^a.\iov  toT?  sv  tfwfAaTi,  ^I'p^a  twv  CwfjiaTixilJv  *dvT*]  ys- 
vjC&ai  (XSTot  Twv  vosjxsvwv.    — ^s  it  is  impossible  to  overtake  one''s  own  shw 
doiv,,  how  great  soever  our  haste  {for  it  always  advances  with  as  much  rapi- 
dity as  we  employ  in  the  pursuit) ;  or  tojix  the  eye  upon  visible  objects,  with- 
out  an  intervening  medium  of  light  and  air ;  or  to  swim  without  water ;  S9 
impossible  is  it  also,  for  those  who  are  yet  in  the  body,  dismissing  corporeal 
things,  to  be  altogether  engrossed  with  those  which  are  spiritual.     Origeii 
also  (Opp.  ed  Wjrceb.  xu.  p.  316.,  in  the  Eighth  Discourse  on  Luke), 
maintains  that  our  conceptions  of  divine  things  will  be  the  more  glo- 
rious, just  in  proportion  to  our  spiritual  ennoblemenl :  "  Unusquit^qu© 
nostrum  ad  imaginem  Christi  formansanimam  suam,  aut  majorem  ei, 
aut  minorem  ponit  imaginem,  vel  obsoletam  vel  sordidam,  aut  clarara 
atque  lucentem  et  splendentem,  ad  effigiem  imaginis  principalis. 
Quando  igitur  grandem  fecero  imaginem  imaginis,  id  est,  animam  meam, 
et  magnificavero  cumoperccogitatione,  sermone,\tunc  imago  Dei grandie 
efficitur  " — This  the  correct  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  prophetical  vi- 
sion.    The  same  sentiment  is  expressed  by  Plutarch,  in  one  of  the 
most  elegant  and  profound  passages  of  his  work  De  Pythiae  Oraculis 
[Opp.  Mur.  ed.  Wyttenb.  ii.  De  P.  Or.  ch.  xxi.) :    "  As  the   body 
makes  use  of  various  members  as  instruments,  so  the  soul  makes  use 
of  the  body  and  its  members  as  instruments.     The  soul  however  isj 
an  instrument  of  God.     Now  it  belongs  to  the  instrument,  to  answer, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  design  of  the  user.     It  cannot  however  do  this 
fully ;  and  the  nature  of  the  user  is  tarnished  by  the  nature  of  the  in- 
strument. One  and  the  same  object,  when  seen  in  concave  and  convex 
mirrors,  appears  of  a  thousand  different  forms.     The  light  of  the  sua 
is  deteriorated  in  the  moon — its  colour  and  splendour  are  changed, 
and  its  warmth  is  gone.     But  it  is  the  same  sun-light  still.     In  the   " 
same  manner  aa  the  moon  reflects  the  light  of  the  sun.  does  the  sou! 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  51 

dom  of  God,  unfolds  itself  in  forms  so  diversified  among  the 
Hebrews.  This  also  may  serve  to  explain,  why  tlie  univer- 
sal conversion  to  the  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  appears  only  as  a 
turning  to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  to  the  Holy  Place  at  Jeru- 
salem. But  when  the  times  were  accomplished,  then  the 
design  and  meaning  of  the  Spirit  of  God  was  clearly  un- 
folded. 

How  shall  we  account  for  the  fact,  that  whenever  the 
Judgment  is  spoken  of — the  }*{"11J  QV—lhe  terrible  day  of 
the  Lord^  it  is  ordinarily  accompanied  with  the  annuncia- 
tion of  the  salvation  which  is  to  come  through  the  Messiah? 
The  thought  readily  suggests  itself,  that  the  good  never 
makes  its  appearance,  without  a  hvely  conflict  with  the  evil ^ 
and  thus  we  might  naturally  explain  this  union  and  connex- 
ion. But  the  Lord  himself  unfolds  to  us  its  meaning.  Even 
the  Baptist,  who  saw  the  "  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away 
the  sins  of  the  world,"  saw  also,  at  the  same  time,  the  fan 
in  his  hand  and  the  axe  laid  at  the  root  of  the  trees. — 
The  disciples  expected  forthwith  "  the  Day  of  Vengeance," 
"  the  Woes  of  Time."  And  what  does  Jesus  do  ?  He  inter- 
poses centuries  between  his  appearance  and  those  woes — 
he  distinguishes  a  twofold  apjiearance  of  the  Messiah.  In- 
structed by  these  facts,  we  can  readily  see  how  ages  crowded 
upon  ages,  in  the  perspective,  to  the  minds  of  the  prophets 
who  looked  downward  through  futurity  ;  and  how  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  terrestrial  kingdom  was  identified,  in  their 
minds,  with  that  of  the  eternal  kingdom  of  God.  Now, 
however,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon  the  earth,  and  that 
above,  is  one  and  the  same  ;  for,  as  soon  as  we  become  sub- 
jects of  the  dispensation  of  Grace  by  Jesus  Christ,  we  are 
citizens  of  the  everlasting  'Kuki^sla.     We  feel  the  influences 

reflect  the  ideas  of  God  which  have  beamed  upon  it  from  above  ;— 
they  are  darken^ed  and  cloiidod  by  the  mortal  body,  and  tlie  unceas- 
ingly active  soul,  which  is  unable,  without  a  motion  of  its  own,  to 
give  itself  away  to  Him  that  moves  it." 

3   H 


o2  lAirORTANCE    OF    THE     STUDY 

which  stream  from  above,  and  our  home  is  in  heaven.  Hencft 
the  Saviour  speaks  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  at  one  time  as 
having  aheady  appeared,  and  at  another  as  yet  to  come.  If  we 
assume  this  point  of  view,  the  eig/if  significations  of  the  word 
(jSagi'Asla)  which  Schleusner  gives,*  will  flow  together  into 
one — into  one,  however,  which  is  peculiar  and  everlasting. 

Although  all  these  glorious  views  might  be  still  fartlier 
developed,  we  shall  close  with  a  few  words  about  the  typi- 
cal and  symbolical  meaning  of  the  History  and  Ritual  of  the 
Israelites.  He  who  cannot  approach  this  subject  with  an  ac- 
curate acquaintance  with  the  East,  had  better  withhold  his» 
judgment.  In  the  P^ast  every  thing  is  symbolical.  Greece 
also,  in  its  earliest  days,  breathed  the  Oriental  spirit,  and 
this  symbohcal  character  pervaded  also  the  mysteries  with 
their  ceremonies.  It  is  perfectly  natural,  then,  that  in  the 
erection  of  the  Tabernacle  and  of  the  Temple,  every  thing- 
should  have  a  secret  meaning.  The  Oriental  is  fond  of  im- 
mediate and  intuitive  modes  of  instruction.  Coldly  imagi- 
native, and  asserting  only  one  kind  of  mental  activity,  viz. 
reflection,  every  species  of  discursive  instruction  is  otTensive 
to  him.  As  Nature,  unfolding  its  productions  in  the  East 
without  uniform  regularity,  constantly  sprouts  and  grows,  so 
it  is  with  the  Oriental  in  his  mode  of  instruction.  He  pre- 
sents the  full  and  entire  flower,  crowded  with  an  endless 
variety  of  materials ;  to  this  he  adds  another  and  another, 
without  dismembering  the  rich  calix,  leaf  by  leaf.  Accord- 
ingly, speculation  with  him  becomes  poetry  ;  history,  fable  ; 
and  religion,  symbolical.  The  notion  is  therefore  incorrect, 
both  of  those  who  suppose  that  7ione  of  the  Jewish  ceremo- 
nial laws  have  any  ulterior  object  in  view,  and  of  those  who 
acknowledge  a  remote  meaning  only  in  the  principal  CQ;ve- 
monial  regulations.! 

*  Some  valuable  thoughts  on  this  subject  may  be  foun  J  in  the  short 
Essay  entitled,  Aphorismen  ueber  den  Zusamvicnh.  dcs  A.  T.  and  dcs 
jy.  T.  by  Allioli.  Rogensb.  1818. 

f  Those  of  the  tbriaer  class  among  the  Jews  are  opposed  by  Mai- 


OF    THE    OT,n    TESTAMENT.  53 

Ja  the  same  manner  we  may  find  much  that  is  symbolical 
■Simong  the  Indians,  the  Chinese,  the  Persians,  the  Egyptians, 
and  the  Greeks.  The  Jewish  system,  however,  is  distin- 
guished from  every  other,  by  this  particular,  that  in  their 
symbols  are  unconscious  but  definite  allusions  to  the  fiiture. 
Their  symbols,  therefore,  not  only  point  to  the  past,  but  pre- 
figure the  future.  As  the  older  theologians  were  very  ex- 
travagant on  this  point,*  it  becomes  us  to  obtain  such  a  set- 
tled and  liberal  view  of  the  types  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
shall  not  be  shaken  by  those  who  are  to  come  after  us.  This 
may  be  effected  by  distinguishing  accurately  between  the 
ideal  and  the  actual,  the  know7i  and  the  unknown.  What 
I  mean  is  this.  We  must  inquire  whether  the  fact  in  itself 
was  to  excite  in  the  minds  of  the  Hebrews,  the  expectation, 
that  at  some  future  day  a'^similar  fact  would  unfold  itself  in 
the  Messiah  ;  or  whether  they  were  to  be  familiarized  mere- 
ly with  the  ideas  naturally  suggested  by  means  of  facts,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  erection  of  the  serpent  in  the  wilderiiess, 
and  by  means  of  ordinances,  as  in  the  case  of  the  various  of- 
ferings for  sin.  The  latter  seems  to  be  the  truth,  for  we 
nowhere  find  reason  to  believe,  that  Moses  or  his  people  had 
the  most  definite  and  circumstantial  conceptions  of  the  com- 
ing Messiah.  In  this  case,  we  cannot  regard  the  types  as 
known  to  them  to  be  such  ;  and  their  advantage  will  be  con- 
fined to  this  circumstance,  that  certain  notions,  otherwise  not 

Bionides,  in  his  More  JVevochim,  ch.  xxvj.     The  laiter  opinion  is  de- 
fended by  Thomas  Aquinas  in  his  Quaestiones. 

*  Witsius,  De  Oeconom.  Foederum  Dai  cum  Hominihus  IV.  6.  {.  S. 
advances  the  following  sentiment:  "  Licet  modus  in  rebus  sit,  toler- 
abilius  eum  peccare  existimem,  qui  Christum  sevidere  arbitratur,  ubi 
fortasse  sese  non  ostendat,  quam  qui  eum  [non  ?J  videre,  ubi  se  clarn 
satis  afFert."  Granting  a  golden  mean  in  all  things,  slill  I  consider 
his  error  more  tolerable^  toko  thinks  he  sees  Christ  where,  peiyt/ij's,  he 
is  not  to  be  found,  than  his,  who  fails  to  see  him  where  he  is  distmctly 
zisible. 


IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDTT 


easily  introduced,  were  thus  to  become  universal  among  the 
people,  in  order  to  awaken  still  further  ideas,*  and  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  christian  economy.     In  this  sense,  we 
may  apply  to  the  universality  of  the  types,  what  Lehmus  in 
his  Letter  to  Hurms^  p.  48.  says,  with  great  propriety,  of 
the  prophecies  :  "  The  entire  religious  system  of  the  Jews 
is,  in  the  most  appropriate  sense,  a  prophecy  ;  and  the  in- 
dividual passages  of  their  sacred  books  are  merely  the  strong- 
est expressions  of  that  spirit  which  enlivens  the  whole  mass." 
To  the  same  purport  are  the  passages  Col.  ii.  17.  and  fieb. 
X.  1.,  where  the  cna  or  shadow  is  the  obscure  and  imperfect 
resemblance,  which  falls  so  far  short  of  the  glorious  splen- 
dour of  the  reality,  that  it  can  excite  but  very  faint  ideas  of 
it.t     Let  us  hear  what  a  recent  and  ardent,  although  not 
always  perspicuous  and  luminous,  commentator  on  the  Gos- 
pel of  John,;):  says  concerning  the  symbol  of  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness :  "  The  position  which  Jesus  seems  to  assume 
in  this  allegory  is  this :    He  regards  the  Old  Testament  ac- 
count as  a7i  indefinite  sytnhol  of  the  Jltonement — as  a 
(Tij,a/;oXov  CwrviPiKg,     And,  indeed,  it  evidently  embraces  the 
two   most   important  points   in   the   notion  of  the   Atone- 
ment, in  the  first  place,  a   life-giving  faith — that  spiritual 
confidence,   which,  in    the   Old   Testament,  stood   yet  in 
need  of  sensible  things,  whereas  in  the  New  Testament  it 
is />?/re/y  spiritual  in  the  regenerated  family  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  secondly,  the  expiatory  virtue  of  death  in  every  thing 
which  is  sinful   and   corruptible ;    from    which    proceeds, 
in  the  Old  Testament,  an  earthly  life,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, a  heavenly  one  ;    in   the  former   case   figuratively ; 

*  Without  such  preparatory  ideas,  tlie  author  of  the  liii.  ch.  of 
Isaiah  could  not  perhaps  have  taken  up  this  prophecy. 

f  See  Rau,  Ueber  die  Tt/pohgie,  p.  71.  The  researches  of  this 
writer,  however,  in  this  department,  are  not  sufficiently  prolound  and 
fundamemtal. 

J  Luecke,  Comm.  ueber  d.  Schrift.  dcs  Joh.  p.  598. 


or    THK    OLD    TESTAMENT.  55 

in  the  latter,  in  deed  and  in  truth  ^^  la  this  sense  the  rais- 
ing of  the  brazen  serpent  was  also  a  type  or  prefiguration  of 
what  was  yet  to  come,  so  regulated  by  Divine  Providence, 
in  order  that,  in  later  times,  the  faith  in  a  spiritual  deliver- 
ance, might  confirm  itself  upon  the  certainty  of  the  temporal 
deliverance.  In  regard  to  the  symbolical  meaning  of  the 
providential  leadings  of  the  Israelites,  we  may  call  to  mind 
the  passage  cited  above  from  Solger's  Gespraeche,  in  which 
it  is  maintained  that  the  collective  history  can  be  well  un- 
derstood, only  when  we  can  comprehend  the  divine  ideas 
which  it  contains.*  We  may  also  concede,  that  the  ideas 
which  are  communicated  through  the  history  of  the  people 
of  God,  must  be  far  more  noble  and  important  than  those 
communicated  by  means  of  other  histories.  Further  than 
this  we  cannot  go.  Conscious  of  this,  we  should  hold  our- 
selves in  readiness  at  all  times  to  make  the  application. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  are 
rendered  venerable  by  their  antiquity,  their  perfect  keeping, 
their  doctrines,  awd  their  historical  documents ;  that  the  / 
Jewish  nation  stands  pre-eminent,  on  the  score  of  antiquity, 
steadfastness  and  wise  legislation ;  and  also  that,  in  respect 
of  morals,  doctrines  and  history,  the  New  Testament  rests 
upon  the  Old.  Let  all  those,  therefore,  who  design  to  be- 
come labourers  in  the  desolate  and  much  neglected  vineyard 
of  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  peruse  and  receive  the  books  of  the 

*  The  words  of  Solger,  to  wliicli  he  refers,  are  contained  in  a  short 
note,  (unfortunately  overlooked  by  the  compositor)  on  pao^e  22,  line 
8.  Although  of  no  great  value  in  itself,  we  insert  it  here  because  it 
is  referred  to  in  this  passage;  and  that  the  author  may  appear,  in  his 
citations  from  others,  as  well  as  in  his  own  views,  in  histruelight ;  and 
that  we  may  avoid,  also,  the  imputation  of  a  designed  omission.  "  Ev- 
ery thing  in  the  world  has  an  allegorical  sense.  How  significant 
does  the  study  of  history  become,  when  in  every  capital  occurrence 
a  a,ran(l  idea  is  presented  for  our  contemplation."  Plulosophische 
Gespraeche  p.  149. — (Tr-) 


58  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY 

Old  Testament,  with  that  earnestness  and  sacred  awe  with 
which  they  deserve  to  be  perused  and  embraced  ;  so  tliat 
every  copy  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  the  venerable  Bible 
Societies  are  distributing,  may  meet  with  a  Philip,*  ready 
to  expound  what  the  Spirit  has  spoken  in  the  obscure 
Avord  of  prophecy,  and  point  to  the  bright  and  morning  star 
that  shineth  in  a  dark  place. 

Those  times  are  past  when  the  Scriptures  were  trodden 
under  foot.  But  let  us  take  heed  to  ourselves,  lest,  in  our 
modern  agility,  we  leap  clean  over  them.  Let  us  approach 
this  sacred  volume,  as  one  of  exalted  sacredness,  and  of  im- 
mense importance  to  all ; — with  a  holy  seriousness,  therefore, 
that  we  may  prove  whether  it  contains  the  truth  in  relation 
to  our  own  hearts.  Whoever  reads  the  Bible  with  any 
other  aim  than  this,  had  better  turn  to  other  food.  We  may 
apply  to  him  what  Porphyry  says,  in  his  treatise  irs^i  a-Tropf^ 
g|*v)>iJ5fwv,  I.  §.  27. :  That  he  gives  his  "  exhortations  oJ  toTs  tov 
crpaYjixaTfxov  /3iov  sVavsXo/jLs'vois*  dv&^cjcrw  5i  XHXoyirfixs'vw  TiiTZ  sffriv 
xui  'jro&sv  sX>)Xu&£v,  <rtoTrs  cmso^siv  ocpsi'Ksi ;  for,"  he  adds,  "  we 
cannot  tender  the  same  advice  to  him  who  is  constantly  doz- 
ing, and,  his  whole  life  through,  seeks  for  nothing  but  ano- 
dynes, and  to  him  who  continually  strives  to  shake  off  sleep, 
and  to  be  vigilant." 

Disregarding,  therefore,  for  the  present,  every  thing  at 
-which  the  understanding  stumbles,  we  ought  to  make  proof 
of  those  portions  alone  which  concern  our  own  hearts  and 
our  corruptions.  If  those  be  once  recognised  as  true  and 
certain,!  then  will  be  excited  that  hungering  after  a  Saviour, 
and  after  strength  from  above,  without  which  we  never  can 
be  sanctified  and  purified.  When  wc  have  once  attained  to 
this  firm  and  deeply  rooted  faith,  then  the  words  of  the  Sa- 
viour are  of  divine  authority,  every  thing  which  the  Bible 

*  Acts  vili.  29.  and  followin"^. 

t  Let  us  keep  contimially  before  our  eye3,  Plato's  image  of  the 


OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.  57 

Contains,  receives  a  higher  meaning,  and  a  spirit  of  exposition 
will  be  generated  which  the  critically  philological  commen- 
taries of  our  day  do  not  possess, — which  conducted  the  Fa- 
thers of  the  church  in  the  early  centuries ;  which  conducted 
a  Calvin,  a  Luther,  and  a  Melancthon,  into  those  depths  of 
scriptural  knowledge  which  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  explores. 
It  is  well  said  by  Bacon,  Lord  Verulam — also  one  of  those 
genial  spirits  that  bowed  themselves  beneath  the  Gospel : 
"  Speculative  philosophy  resembles  the  lark,  which  mounts 
into  the  air  with  sprightly  song  and  circling  flight,  but  de- 
scends with  nothing.  Practical  philosophy,  on  the  other 
hand,  resembles  the  hawk,  which  soars  into  the  clouds  only 
to  return  with  spoil.^'  And  where  can  "a  man  of  long- 
ing"* find  satisfaction,  in  the  midst  of  the  straining  and  driv- 
ing after  fruitless  speculation,  which  our  age  exhibits,  if  the 
heart  be  not  full  and  the  soul  warmed  ?  Every  one  who  has 
discovered  what  it  is  which  alone  can  satisfy  the  cravings  of 
the  human  heart,  will  exclaim  with  Epicurus  :  x"?'S  ''"?5  (J^w^a- 
^I'a  (purfS),  071  TO.  avayKOiTa  eVoi'iiO's  sv'KopdTa,   tw    8s  Svd'xo^iifTtt  oCx 

chariot  of  the  human  soul,  to  which  is  joined  a  white  and  a  black 
steed, — the  black  steed,  however,  pressing  onward  more  swiftly  and 
ungovernably;  or  the  image  of  the  Persian  poet  Ssaadi,  in  the  Bus- 
tan  (Cod.  ms.  Bibl.  Berol.  Lib. v.)  who  compares  the  human  mind  with 
its  passions,  to  a  boy  who  stands  high  upon  a  steep  declivity,  holding 
by  the  halter  a  perverse  young  colt.  For  there  is  no  nation  that  has 
not  a  lively  feeling  of  the  dark  interior  of  the  human  heart,  which  the 
Arabian  denominates  so  appositely  "  the  grain  of  pepper  in  the  heart." 
It  is  the  medicine  and  not  the  recipe  that  cures  the  disease.  Gene- 
ral instructions  and  prescriptions  will  be  of  little  avail,  to  induce  men 
to  take  up  arms  against  self.  A  new  and  divine  seed  must  come 
from  without,  and  be  implanted  in  the  soul;  a  new  weapon  must  bo 
furnished,  'i?self\s  to  gain  the  victory  over  self.  The  love  of  the 
world  and  of  sin  is  something  real;  the  love  of  God  must  be  some- 
thing real  also. 

*  The  old  servant  of  Christ,  Amos  Comenius,  thanked  his  God 
that  from  his  youth  upward  he  had  been  a  "  vir  desideriorum," 


58  IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    STUDY,   &€. 

dmyxajta — "  Thanks  to  nature,  for  having  rendered  necessEo-y 
things,  of  easy  attainment,  while  those  of  difficult  attainment 
are  not  necessary."  Moses  also  declares  :*  "  For  this  com- 
mandment, which  I  command  thee  this  day,  it  is  not  hidden 
from  thee,  neither  is  it  far  otf :  It  is  not  in  heaven  that  thou 
shouldst  say.  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  heaven,  and  bring  it 
unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it  and  do  it  ?  Neither  is  it  beyond 
the  sea,  that  thou  shouldst  say.  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea 
for  us,  and  bring  it  unto  us,  that  we  may  hear  it  and  do  it  ? 
But  the  word  is  very  nigh  unto  thee,  in  thy  mouth,  and  ia 
thy  heart,  that  thou  mayest  do  it." 

*  5  Mos,  XXX.  11.  and  following* 


DATE  DUE 

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GAYLORD 

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